LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 

ANALOGY OF TRUTH, 

IN 



FOUR DISCOURSES: 

TOGETHER WITH 

A DISC OURSE 

ON 

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN" PRACTICAL PIETY AND 




REV. SILAS TOTTEN, D. D . 

LATE PRESIDENT OP TBINITY COLLEGE. 



NEW- YORK : 
STANFORD AND SWORDS, 139, BROADWAY. 

1848. 



77Zs- rft* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 
SILAS TOTTEN, D. D., 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. 



JOHN R. m'goWN, PRINTER, 

106, Pulton-itreet, 



PREFACE. 



The following discourses were written without any 
view to publication, and are now placed before the 
public at the request of friends who thought that they 
might be of service in impressing upon men their 
obligation to know, and believe, and obey the truth, 
and also in directing them to the Holy Scriptures as 
the source of religious truth, and at the same time 
pointing out the helps which God had provided to aid 
the diligent inquirer in his examination. 

They should be read in order, as there is designed 
to be one continuous train of thought running through 
the whole, and the latter part of the argument may be 
misapprehended unless the former is kept in mind. 
That they will be universally or even generally accept- 
able the author dare not hope. Some who do not ma- 
terially differ from him in opinion may perhaps deem it 
imprudent, at a time when the general tendency is 
towards the abuse of private judgment, to insist upon 
the right as well the responsibility of private judgment. 
But he has never believed that an error can be success- 



4 



fully combatted by inculcating its opposite ; but rather 
that the truth in its integrity and simplicity should at all 
times be insisted on as the very best corrective of all 
error. He believes that nothing will more effectually 
curb the licentiousness of vain speculations than the 
truth chiefly insisted on in these discourses, that God 
has imposed upon every man the responsibility of know- 
ing, believing, and obeying the truth. 



DISCOURSE I. 



WHAT IS TRUTH] 

John xviii. 38. 
44 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth ?" 

It is not easy to conjecture the motive for the 
question in our text in the mind of the Roman 
governor. Judging from the station which he 
occupied, we should suppose him to have been a 
man of intelligence, educated like the better class 
of Romans, and acquainted with the various sys- 
tems of philosophy which prevailed in those times. 
We are not, therefore, to infer that in the word 
truth, which our Lord had used in answering his 
former question, there was an idea which was 
new to him, and that he asked " what is truth," 
by way of eliciting an explanation. We may 
either consider him as putting the question 
doubtingly, not to say ironically, as if he would 
ask whether among so many conflicting systems, 
all claiming to be true, there could be any such 
thing as truth ; or inquiringly, as to what partic- 
ular system of doctrine our Saviour applied the 



6 



term ; or sincerely, from a momentary impulse, 
to know what might be the truth among all the 
conflicting and contradictory opinions which ob- 
tained in the world. 

But whatever his motive may have been, we 
may be sure there was little of real earnestness 
in the inquiry, for as soon as he had made it, 
and without waiting for an answer, he arose and 
went to the Jews who were standing without to 
communicate to them his judgment of the pris- 
oner. An earnest inquirer would have delayed 
long enough to have received an answer ; or had 
he been desirous of learning the truth he would 
have sought out the Great Teacher before, and 
learned more at leisure the doctrine he taught ; 
for we cannot suppose that Pilate was, previously 
to this time, entirely ignorant of Jesus, whose 
miracles and wisdom had caused such a stir 
among the people over whom he was placed by 
the Roman government. Judged, however, by 
the conduct of mankind in general, there was 
nothing peculiar in this transaction of Pilate. 
How few there are to be found who sincerely 
and earnestly inquire " what is truth," with the 
purpose of seeking it out and shaping their lives 
according to it. It is only on particular occasions, 
and under peculiar circumstances, that the inqui- 
ry is made at all ; and then either so heedlessly 
or timidly, that they care not, or dare not to wait 
for the answer, but turn away to their ordinary 



7 



* occupations, not caring to know what, perhaps, 
may bring to light new obligations, nor daring to 
know what may reveal to themselves their own 
condemnation. 

The question, " what is truth ?" is not among 
those most frequently asked in the secret thoughts 
of the generality of men ; but rather what is pres- 
ent interest ; what will gratify avarice, or pride, 
or ambition, or revenge ? What will support an 
opinion already formed, what will further the in- 
terest of a party, or sustain the dogmas of a sect, 
or insure victory in an argument. Nay, so per- 
verse are some men at times, that they shut their 
ears against hearing the truth, and their eyes 
against beholding it ; and rather than forsake 
their evil practices, labor to continue in error ; as 
if they hoped that the wilful errors of the under- 
standing would be a valid excuse for the conse- 
quent errors of conduct. Indeed it is to be feared 
that afajse philosophy extensively prevails, which 
substitutes sincerity for truth, and makes it al- 
most a matter of indifference what a man believes, 
provided he is only sincere in his belief ; and 
leaving us to infer, that the errors of conduct aris- 
ing from error in belief, will all be mercifully 
passed by ; as if God would not hold us account- 
able as well for the right use of our understanding, 
as for the due regulation of our moral feelings. 

To show the absurdity and danger of such an 
opinion it is only necessary to answer the question 



s 



in our text, " What is truth?" and to show from' 
experience and observation, and from the word 
of God, that it is both the duty and interest of 
every man to know the exact truth, and regulate 
his life according to it. 

In answering this question, your attention must 
first be asked to a few remarks, somewhat abstract 
in their nature, but necessary to the elucidation 
of the subject. 

And first we observe, Truth is objective ; that 
is, it exists independently of ourselves, of our 
thoughts, feelings, conceptions, and reasonings, 
so that what is true, is absolutely and indepen- 
dently true. What is truth to one individual, or 
one order of intelligent beings, cannot be error to 
another individual, or another order of intelligent 
beings. Truth is in itself independent and im- 
mutable, and may be defined to be the actual 
state and condition of things, together with their 
relations to their Creator and to each oth#r. 

The knowledge of the truth is a very different 
thing from the truth itself. God alone knows all 
truth, and this knowledge is his omniscience. It 
extends to the actual and exact state and condi- 
tion of all things in the whole universe, to all that 
has been, and to all that will be hereafter. Finite 
beings know more or less of the truth according 
to their rank in the scale of being, according to 
their capacity for knowledge, and their opportu- 
nities for acquiring it, and their diligence in its 



9 



pursuit. Logicians sometimes speak of truth as 
probable, or certain, but this is said not of truth 
in itself, but of truth as related to our capacities 
and our knowledge. Perfect knowledge is cer- 
tainty ; imperfect knowledge is uncertainty, or 
probability in degrees proportioned to the extent 
of knowledge. With God there can be no such 
thing as probability, for every subject of know- 
ledge, whether past, present, or future, is before 
him in all its circumstances and relations. 

Truth is infinite in its extent and variety, 
having for its subject the whole universe, and all 
that it contains. It is but a small part of the 
truth considered in this wide extent and variety 
that can be of interest to us. It is only that part 
with which we are connected, that part which 
has a bearing upon our duty or our happiness, 
which it concerns us to know, and which consti- 
tutes the truth as regards ourselves. Yet even this 
part is of immense extent. It comprehends all 
the subjects of human knowledge. The material 
world around us with all its objects, circum- 
stances, tendencies, and relations ; our own im- 
material, spiritual nature, the mind and soul, with 
all its faculties, powers, desires, and hopes ; God 
our Creator with all his glorious attributes, to- 
gether with his relation to us as our preserver, 
redeemer, sanctifier, and judge. 

For a further illustration of this subject, we re- 
mark that truth may be divided into several parts, 



10 



according to its subjects. That which has for its 
subject the state, condition, and tendencies of the 
material world, is called scientific truth. That 
which relates to our fellow-men, and the reciprocal 
duties which arise out of the relations which men 
sustain to each other, is termed moral truth ; and 
that which has God for its object, and the re- 
lations which we sustain towards him, as our 
Creator, preserver, and redeemer, is religious 
truth. To know the truth, as regards either of 
these classes of objects, or the particulars under 
them, is to know the exact nature, properties, and 
relations of these subjects of our knowledge. 
Ignorance is the want of knowledge of these sub- 
jects, their properties, and relations ; error is the 
believing them to possess properties and relations 
which they do not, or denying them to possess 
those which they do. 

I will endeavor briefly to illustrate this idea 
from each of the classes of truths before 
mentioned. 

Let us take for example some material sub- 
stance. It has certain properties — size, weight, 
hardness, color, and the like. It has by means 
of its qualities, certain relations to us, which 
render it useful or worthless, beneficial or hurt- 
ful, poisonous or salubrious. To know all its 
properties and relations, is to know the truth ; to 
know none of them, or a part of them only, is 
ignorance. To believe it to have properties 



11 



which it has not — to believe it to be useful when 
it is worthless, beneficial when it is hurtful, sa- 
lubrious when it is poisonous, is error. 

So also in regard to moral truth. There are 
certain actual relations which men sustain towards 
"each other, and out of these relations arise moral 
duties. To know what these relations actually 
are, and to apprehend the moral duties w r hich 
arise out of them, is to know the truth. To 
believe that they are different from what they 
really are, or to misapprehend the moral du- 
ties which arise out of them, is to be in error. 
Thus for example, to believe the relation of 
the child to the parent, to be such that the child 
owed no filial duty, or to suppose that duty would 
be discharged in taking the parent's life when old 
age or disease had rendered him incapable of 
enjoyment, (which is the case in some heathen 
countries,) are examples of error, however 
honestly the belief may be entertained. 

The same principle holds good in regard to 
religious truth. Our Creator has a character and 
attributes, and sustains certain relations to us, 
and we to him, out of which arise our religious 
duties. To know the truth, is to have a know- 
ledge of these attributes, relations, and duties. 
To know a part only, is ignorance. To believe 
that God has a character and attributes different 
from what he really has — to fancy that he sus- 
tains relations to us, which he does not, or to 



substitute religious duties of a kind difie rent from 
those we really owe to him, is error. Thus to 
imagine him void of justice or benevolence, to 
fancy that he has the passions and vices of a man, 
(as did some of the ancient heathens,) to believe 
him cruel and tyrannical, and delighting in scenes 
of cruelty and blood, (as is the case with many 
savage nations,) and offering to him human 
sacrifices, are examples of error, and is what is 
termed in Scripture, believing a lie. 

I have dwelt thus long on the meaning of the 
term truth, and its distinction from error, in order 
to prepare the way for the second branch of our 
subject, the obligation of every man to know the 
exact truth. 

And here I would remark that all truth is not 
equally important to us. There are many things 
within the range of our faculties, of w T hich we 
may safely remain ignorant, or understand but 
imperfectly without serious loss or inconvenience. 
But there are others so important, that we could 
not Ions: exist without a knowledge of them. 
One kind of truth has respect only to our tem- 
poral welfare, another has a bearing on our 
eternal interests. One kind relates to the body, 
another to the mind. One kind is addressed to 
our affections, another to our understandings, 
and yet all truth is in some sort connected to- 
gether, and when known, and received, and 
obeyed, in its due proportions, is the very 



13 



groundwork and foundation of human hap- 
piness. 

To be satisfied of the obligation of every man 
to know the truth, we have only to inquire what 
is the will of God respecting it, as shown both in 
the law of nature and of revelation. A little re- 
flection will convince us, that the law of nature 
makes no allowance either for ignorance or error, 
in the least particular. If a man through igno- 
rance or error swallows poison, it as certainly 
destroys life as if it were taken with the intent to 
destroy it. It will avail him nothing that he sin- 
cerely thought it was a medicine rather than a 
poison. If the mariner, through the imperfection 
of his chart, runs his vessel upon rocks in the place 
where he had thought to find an open channel ; 
his ship will as certainly be broken as if he had 
known that the rocks were there, and had run upon 
them by design. He may blame the chart, but 
the consequences of its defects fall upon him. 
The same law holds good in all our relations to 
the material world. It is the perfect knowledge 
of the truth that is required of us, and we are 
made to suffer just in proportion to our want of it. 
Why is it that one man is more skilful in his 
business, or profession, than another ? Simply 
because he knows more of the truth relating to it. 
The ignorant husbandman, who knows little of 
the nature of the soil he cultivates, or the laws of 
vegetation ; or the conceited husbandman, who 



14 



substitutes his own fanciful theories for the les- 
sons of experience and the results of scientific 
research, will receive a less reward for his labor, 
than he who knows, and faithfully applies, the 
laws of nature in his cultivation of the soil. And 
what is the foresight by which wise and sagacious 
men look into the future, and calculate with more 
or less certainty the results of present circum- 
stances and actions, but a knowledge of the true 
relations and tendencies of things — the knowledge 
of the truth in regard to the subjects concerned ? 
It is thus that the skilful merchant or statesman 
foresees what will be the result of his present 
plans. It is thus also that the skilful chemist 
can foretell what combinations will result from 
two or more simple substances. In both instances 
the foresight depends upon the knowledge of the 
laws of nature as applied to the subjects of their 
experiments. It is evident, therefore, that by the 
laws of nature a knowledge of the truth is re- 
warded with success, while ignorance and error 
are punished with disappointment and loss. 
These rewards and punishments clearly show 
that it is the will of God that every man should 
seek to know the truth, in all things relating to his 
connection with the material world. It is also 
worthy of remark, that honest and good intentions 
avail nothing. Mistakes are punished as severely 
as wilful errors. The great scheme of nature 
rolls on, and he who through ignorance, or wil- 



15 



fulness, or error, resists its movements, is crushed 
beneath it. Cursed is he who continueth not in 
all things contained in the law to do them, is the 
language of the law of nature as well as of the 
law of revelation. 

The same necessity for knowing the truth ex- 
ists also in our moral relations. God has created 
men with natural wants and instincts, which ren- 
der it necessary for them to live together in soci- 
ety ; and the peace and well-being of that society 
depend upon the laws which arise out of this state 
of things. Now, if an individual from ignorance 
of these laws, or from erroneous views of them, 
however honestly entertained, neglects or violates 
them, a punishment most certainly follows. It 
follows in the evil consequences resulting to him- 
self as a member of the suffering community, or 
in penalties inflicted on him by the community it- 
self in order to deter others from the like offences. 

Should a man persuade himself that there 
ought to be no such thing as individual property, 
and honestly entertain the opinion, the law would 
notwithstanding account him guilty of a crime 
should he appropriate what was not his own. It 
is not his individual opinion which determines the 
right, but the truth in itself, independent of his 
reasonings and theories. The law demands of 
every man the knowledge and belief of the truth, 
in all matters which relate to the safety of so- 
ciety, and takes upon itself to punish every sane 



16 



man whose actions do not conform to it. Human 
society thus becomes the means of carrying on a 
part of the divine government over men ; for its 
very existence, in peace and security, requires it 
to apply those eternal principles of truth, which 
lie at the foundation of all moral obligation. By 
a law of still higher sanctions, society itself is 
bound to know and abide by the truth ; for every 
system of government, or administration of laws, 
founded in ignorance or error, fails of its object, 
and is productive of greater or less loss and misery 
to men, in proportion to the degree of departure 
from the truth. 

It is thus sufficiently evident, that both in our 
relations to the material world and in our moral 
relations, an inexorable law exists, which requires 
us to know and obey the truth, and makes no 
allowance for ignorance or error. We may err 
from want of information ; we may err from adopt- 
ing the opinions of others whom we deem wiser 
than ourselves ; we may err from the bias of a 
faulty education ; w T e may err from the natural 
weakness and imbecility of our reasoning powers, 
yet notwithstanding we are held responsible for 
the whole truth in every thing relating to our- 
selves. The law is inexorable ; we must know 
and obey the truth, or suffer the consequences. 

Such being the established law in regard to 
our physical and moral relations, are we to sup- 
pose that there is a law of a different kind to be 



17 



applied in our relations to our Maker? Is an 
entirely different principle here to be introduced 
into the Divine government, by which sincerity is 
to take the place of truth, and men are to be re- 
warded and punished entirely according to what 
passes in their own minds, without regard to the 
actual relations of things? Let us see to what 
such a principle would lead. The idolater bows 
himself down before his graven image, or casts 
his shrieking offspring into the fiery arms of his 
molten Moloch; yet if he sincerely bows down in 
homage to the one, or makes in faith his costly 
sacrifice to the other, his service is to be accept- 
able to Him who abhors both idolatry and cruelty. 
The application of the principle to an extreme 
case shows its absurdity. 

But for further illustration, let us trace the 
analogy between religious truth and that which 
relates to the common affairs of life. A man who 
is unacquainted with a law of nature, cannot take 
advantage of it for his own benefit. If one did 
not know, or should reason so perversely as not 
to believe, that seed corn was necessary in order 
to secure a crop from the earth, his labors would 
not be rewarded with a harvest. So, if he did 
not know or would not be persuaded that God 
required him to make known his wants by prayer 
and supplication, ought he to expect those bles- 
sings which are promised only in answer to 
prayer ? Or apply the principle to an important 



18 



article of the Christian faith. Can he who rejects 
the doctrine of the mediation of Christ, and on 
that account refuses to avail himself of the benefits 
of that mediation in the appointed way, expect to 
be saved by that mediation ? Can he who does 
not believe that there is a Holy Ghost, realize 
those sanctifying influences of the spirit, which he 
bestows in answer to prayer ? If such were the 
case, the whole Christian revelation were useless, 
and Christian knowledge and truth, of no impor- 
tance whatever. 

The analogy between physical, moral and re- 
ligious truth, holds still further. If a man knows 
not, or believes not the truth, the loss and suffer- 
ing falls upon himself. He cannot plead in ex- 
cuse a faulty education, or false information, or a 
reliance upon fallible authority. 

When he relies on the information, or rests his 
faith on authority, he takes the risk upon himself. 
The law of God requires nothing less than finite 
perfection — perfection in the understanding as 
well as in the moral feelings. The law which 
obliges us to know the truth, is a part of that 
divine law which demands perfect obedience, 
and makes no allowance for human frailty. 

From this view of the subject, the question 
naturally arises; is then every departure from the 
truth in religious doctrine to be fatal to the eter- 
nal interests of the soul ? If so, we might well 
ask, who then can be saved ? Who can be 



19 



assured that he cherishes no error, that he is 
ignorant of no important truth ? There is mercy 
in the divine Government, and the errors of the 
understanding may be forgiven, and their conse- 
quences in a future life averted, in the same 
manner, and on the like conditions, that offences 
against the moral law are pardoned, viz. through 
the atonement and mediation of the Son of God. 
There are sins which persisted in, shut out a 
man from the mercy of God, and so there are 
errors which admit of no forgiveness, while enter- 
tained, for they prevent him who holds them 
from complying with the conditions, on which 
alone he can be pardoned. 

It is not necessary to determine the exact 
amount of error which a man may hold, and yet 
be saved at last, any more than it is to know 
the precise amount of moral dereliction which 
may consist with the salvation of the soul. To 
know the truth is a religious duty ; to love the 
truth, to seek after the truth, to believe and obey 
the truth, is as much required of us, as to worship 
God, to keep the Sabbath, to honor parents, to 
abstain from murder, theft, false witness, and 
covetousness. He, therefore, who is careless or 
indifferent about the truth, places himself in the 
like danger with him who is careless and indif- 
ferent in regard to his moral obligations ; and 
though in the scheme of divine mercy there is 
forgiveness for invincible ignorance, as well as 



20 



for unconscious sin, yet the condition of forgive- 
ness is as much an earnest, candid endeavor 
to know the truth, as the other case it is a firm 
resolution to abstain from every sin. In both 
every man is individually accountable to God, 
and may neither shelter himself under the pre- 
text of a prevailing error, or the plea of a univer- 
sal sin. 

I have reserved to the last the proofs drawn 
from Scripture, as being most important and con- 
clusive. They are so explicit that but a few passa- 
ges need be quoted. It might be almost sufficient 
to quote the parting words of our Lord to his dis- 
ciples, when he gave them their great commission. 
" Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature." 6 ' He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth 
not shall be damned"* — where even eternal sal- 
vation is suspended upon the belief of the truth. 

Faith in God, which is nothing less nor more 
than belief of the truth, is everywhere insisted on 
as necessary to secure the favor of God ; " He 
that believeth not is condemned already."! The 
greatest stress is placed upon knowing the truth. 
Our Saviour said to the Jews who professed to 
believe on him : — "If ye continue in my word, 
then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you 
free."J The Holy Ghost is sent to " guide into all 

* Mark xvi. 16. t John iii. 18. J John viii. 31, 32. 



21 



truth."** St. Paul speaks of the just condemnation 
of those who " changed the truth of God into a 
lie,"t and said of others, " God shall send them 
strong delusion, that they may believe a lie, that 
they all might be damned which believe not the 
truth. "$ He speaks also of others who are " chosen 
to salvation through belief of the truth."§ Indeed, 
the whole Scripture is full of exhortations to know 
the truth, to believe the truth, to receive and 
obey the truth. 

Such being the obligation to know and believe 
the truth, with what diligence ought we to seek 
for it, with what care examine the evidence on 
which we are to rely, with what caution adopt 
the mere dicta of those who set themselves up as 
guides for us to follow. It is not enough for us 
indolently to imagine that the truth must be with 
the majority, or with this or that class of men. 
We are to know the truth for ourselves, we are 
individually responsible, and on us will fall the 
consequences of our errors, from whomsoever 
they may be derived. 

On another occasion I hope to be able to show 
how truth is to be sought, and where it is to be 
found, and I close my remarks at this time, by 
simply directing you to that acknowledged 
fountain of truth, the holy Scriptures, to which 
the Church directs us, as containing all things 
necessary to eternal salvation. 

* John xvi. 13. t Rom. i. 25. % 2 Thess. ii, 11. §2 Thess. ii. 13. 



DISCOURSE II. 



THE COST OF TRUTH. 

Proverbs xxiii. 23. 
"Buy the truth 

Truth is not to be obtained without cost. In 
most cases the price is careful observation and 
long and diligent research. Consider how much 
labor the knowledge of those laws of nature has 
cost which are applied in the common arts of life. 
Generation after generation has toiled in the pur- 
suit of knowledge, each transmitting to its suc- 
cessors the fruits of its investigations, and yet, 
though hundreds of generations have passed 
away, new truths are continually discovered, 
which have an important bearing on the welfare 
and happiness of mankind. 

It is thus that the Creator of all rewards the 
knowledge of the truth, and the pains-taking 
necessary to acquire it. If you would realize 
how great this reward is, contemplate the savage 
in his rude habitation, little superior in comfort to 
the dens of the wild beasts he pursues, and the 



23 



citizen of a civilized country, in his stately man- 
sion, surrounded by every thing necessary to 
render his physical condition delightful ; or con- 
trast a people just emerging from barbarism, with 
one in possession of the accumulated stores of 
knowledge which the wisdom of ages has col- 
lected, and you will behold what rich rewards 
are prepared for a knowledge of truth. 

We sometimes call those discoveries which 
become so important in promoting the physical 
comfort of man, new truths. But they are new 
only to us. No new law of nature has been or- 
dained ; no new development of the original laws 
brought about. The law was always the same ; 
the truth was always the same. The develop- 
ment is in man, not in nature ; he has found out 
the truth and has his reward. 

The question cannot but occur to a reflecting 
mind, — since the knowledge of truth is so impor- 
tant to the welfare and happiness of man, why 
was it not made plain, and obvious, and easy of 
acquisition? To this question we cannot give 
a full and satisfactory answer, though a partial 
one is at hand, and one which is satisfactory for 
all practical purposes. It has pleased God to 
ordain that man should come into the world in a 
very imperfect state. AH his powers, both phys- 
ical and mental, require to be developed and 
matured. The body increases in strength by 
means of food and exercise; and the mind by 



24 



means of instruction and the voluntary activity 
of its powers. 

Food alone will not give strength to the body, 
nor instruction alone to the mind. Both require 
activity and exercise, and both, by the wisdom 
and goodness of the Creator, are provided with 
the necessary means. The body finds exercise 
in procuring the food that sustains it, and in that 
restless activity which is not easy to be re- 
pressed ; and the mind, in seeking for know- 
ledge to improve its condition, and in gratifying 
that insatiable curiosity which makes the pur- 
suit of knowledge delightful. 

The mind, however, being destined to an end- 
less existence, is furnished with the means of ex- 
ercising its powers to an indefinite degree. The 
regions which it is permitted to explore in search 
of truth, are infinite in extent ; so that it can never 
want objects on which to exercise its faculties ; 
but may go on forever, continually advancing 
towards perfection, still increasing in knowledge, 
and at each step acquiring new strength for fur- 
ther investigations. We may conclude, therefore, 
that one reason why the knowledge of truth should 
cost labor and diligence, is to afford the means of 
proper discipline and improvement for the under- 
standing, and bring it forward towards that per- 
fection for which the Creator designed it. When 
we take this view of the subject, we can see why 
each man is held individually responsible for the 



25 



knowledge of the truth in all that relates to his 
personal interests. Could he escape the conse- 
quences of his ignorance, or even avoid the suffer- 
ings and losses occasioned by errors originating 
in the mistakes and false reasonings of others, he 
would have less motive for finding out the truth, 
there would be a less active exercise of the pow- 
ers of the understanding, and consequently less 
improvement. Another result would be, that an 
error once prevailing must be perpetuated from 
generation to generation. 

It is, then, in order to exercise and perfect the 
understanding that God has hidden so much impor- 
tant truth from us ; and made care, and diligence, 
and perseverance, necessary to find it out. He 
has given, indeed, broad intimations of those first 
principles of truth, without a knowledge of which 
man could not exist ; but in relation to others of 
vast importance to his comfort and happiness, He 
has given mere hints, scattered up and down 
through His works, unnoticed b} r the indolent and 
careless observer, but which become to the dili- 
gent seeker after knowledge, the germs of impor- 
tant truths. 

Allow me to illustrate this idea by a familiar 

example, drawn from the physical sciences. Two 

thousand years ago it was discovered, that when 

a piece of amber was briskly rubbed on silk or 

woollen, it acquired the property of attracting light 

bodies to itself. This was the first discovery of 
2 



26 



an important law, though nothing further was 
known of it for many centuries. Next it was 
discovered that this property was not peculiar to 
amber, but belonged to all vitrious and resinous 
substances, and at length to all substances. Step 
by step the discovery progressed, here a little and 
there a little ; at one time found out by observa- 
tion, at another by experiment, till at length it has 
resulted in the knowledge of a most powerful 
agent in nature, pervading all substances, and 
active in most of the changes which they undergo ; 
now discovered giving energy and activity to the 
most secret operations of nature, now heard in the 
rolling thunder, now gleaming in the forked light- 
ning, or exhibiting its terrible power in the earth- 
quake and the volcano. Nor is this discovery, so 
laboriously sought out from the obscure intima- 
tions which first attracted the attention of the ob- 
serving, of little importance to the welfare of man. 
In its application to useful purposes, it has already 
enabled him to protect his dwelling from the 
dreaded thunderbolt, to perform processes in the 
arts before deemed impossible, and to send his 
thoughts with the speed of lightning around the 
World ; and it promises to the diligent pursuit of 
the wise still more important results. So care- 
fully is important truth sometimes hidden from 
roan, and so great the reward of its discovery. 

I have drawn my illustrations of the difficulty 
of finding out the truth from the material world 



27 



for there it cannot bat be seen by all ; but the 
same law holds good in relation to moral truth. 

The first practical principles of moral truth, 
such as enable men to live together in society 
in tolerable peace and security, may be easily 
discovered ; but the higher principles of morality, 
when left to the unaided reason of man to find out, 
are much like those secret laws of nature, which 
are discovered only by careful observation and 
profound reflection. 

In proof of this we need only to refer you to 
those imperfect notions of moral duty, those faulty 
and pernicious organizations of society, those un- 
equal and unwise laws which have always existed, 
and still exist in the world. How much conten- 
tion, disorder and misery have ignorance and 
error in regard to moral relations, produced among 
men. 

With respect to moral relations there is a fur- 
ther source of error, the strength and perversity 
of passion, leading the mind away from the truth, 
clouding the understanding and warping the judg- 
ment ; and hence calmness and evenness of tem- 
per, candor and disinterestedness, as well as care 
and diligence, become necessary to the attainment 
of the truth. 

The same law applies to religious truth. Its 
first practical principles are sufficiently obvious 
to a mind not estranged from the author of its 
being, and not depraved by a life of sin. God 



28 



has manifested himself in His works to such a de- 
gree, as to render beings gifted with understand- 
ing, and reason, and conscience, without excuse. 
Yet, when we examine the principles of natural 
religion, many of which we should have probably 
been ignorant of were it not for revelation, we 
can see even in these, how knowledge has been 
hidden from man, in order to call forth the powers 
of his understanding, and exercise the faculties of 
his soul. Even in revelation itself we may dis- 
cover the same principle. The Bible is no com- 
plete system of religion, logically arranged and 
put in form like a treatise on Mathematics and 
Natural Philosophy. We find in it no specific 
creed, arranged after the manner of distinct 
propositions. It is given to us as the Prophet de- 
scribes it, " line upon line, precept upon precept, 
here a little and there a little and it is so given 
for the exercise of the understanding, and for the 
trial of the candor and faith of those to whom it 
is sent. A strict analogy would therefore appear 
to exist between truth as conveyed through na- 
ture and through revelation. 

The first and indispensable principles of reli- 
gious knowledge, such as relate to necessary 
practice, are clear and easily understood. But 
as we advance to higher and more complex truths, 
which are also of great importance to the present 
and future happiness of man, we meet with diffi- 

* Isaiah xxviii. 13. 



29 



culties. They are no where stated in clear and 
explicit terms, but are to be discovered in sepa- 
rate and disjointed forms of expression, and in 
inferences deducible from discussions on other 
subjects. Nay, so far are the Scriptures from 
being plain and explicit on some points, that no 
care seems to have been taken to avoid seeming 
contradictions, so that it requires some thought 
and examination, to be able to reconcile one pas- 
sage with another. Admirably indeed are they 
adapted to the purpose of affording an exercise 
for the understanding, of disciplining it to candor, 
to carefulness, and singleness of purpose in seek- 
ing for the truth. 

Revealed truth may be, and probably is, like 
scientific truth, infinite in extent, so that while it 
may give a wholesome exercise to the dullest un- 
derstanding, the most acute and improved will 
yet find enough to keep its powers in continual 
exercise. 

Bishop Butler, that profound master of ana- 
logical reasoning, in touching upon this subject, 
remarks : 

" Practical Christianity, or that faith and be- 
havior which renders a man a Christian, is a plain 
and obvious thing, like the common rules of con- 
duct with respect to our ordinary temporal affairs. 
The more distinct and particular knowledge of 
those things, the study of which the Apostle calls 
going on to perfection ; and the prophetic parts of 



30 



revelation, may require very exact thought and 
careful consideration. 

" The hindrances, too, of natural and super- 
natural knowledge, are of the same kind, and as 
it is owned that the whole scheme of Scripture is 
not yet understood, so if ever it comes to be un- 
derstood before the restitution of all things, and 
without miraculous interposition, it must be in the 
same way as natural knowledge is come at, by 
the continuance and progress of learning and lib- 
erty, and by particular persons attending to, com- 
paring, and pursuing intimations scattered up and 
down in it, which are overlooked and disregarded 
by the generality of the world."* 

It would seem, therefore, that knowledge of 
all kinds can only be obtained at the cost of dili- 
gent and careful research ; and we can see no 
reason why the Creator should have, as it were, 
hidden the truth from us, except it be to improve 
our faculties, and perfect our reasoning powers in 
the search for it. It is not enough for a man in- 
dolently to say, there are so many conflicting 
opinions, all claiming to be true, that it matters 
little which I espouse ; for if he takes up the 
wrong opinion, and acts upon it, the evil conse- 
quences of the error will fall upon him person- 
ally ; and it is this personal interest in the truth 
which makes it the part of prudence to be care- 
ful, diligent, and earnest in its pursuit. Care and 

* Butler's Analogy. 



31 



diligence are a part of the price of the truth, 
without which it is ordained that it cannot be ob- 
tained. 

We may remark further, that truth can only 
be obtained at the cost of present interest. I 
speak here more particularly of moral and reli- 
gious truth. We do not say that the knowledge 
and practice of the truth will always, or even 
generally, be in opposition to present interest ; 
but in order to have the right disposition of mind 
to discover truth, all idea of present interest must 
be discarded ; for the mind that reasons under the 
influence of any particular desire cannot but be 
liable greatly to err. 

A man's pride may be interested in maintain- 
ing an opinion rashly uttered, and he becomes 
blind to all evidence to the contrary. He may 
have an interest in maintaining a certain position 
in society, or in seeming to agree with persons of 
reputation and influence, or in holding a place of 
pecuniary emolmument, which requires the pro- 
fession of a peculiar class of opinions ; and his 
mind, acting under the bias of interest, will be 
unable to find any evidence except for the prin- 
ciples and opinions which he is desirous to pro- 
fess. He who would discover the truth, must 
forget himself, his circumstances, and present in- 
terests, and give himself up to the leadings of 
reason and conscience, and the Spirit of God, 
regardless of the cost. He may be a present 



32 



loser by this course, but truth, the pearl of great 
price, will be more than an equivalent for the 
loss. Here again we may see why truth is made 
difficult of attainment. It is to discipline the soul 
to that faith and trust in God which discards the 
present, and relies on God alone for the future. 

Truth must also be obtained at the peril of 
much inconvenience and suffering. Men are 
naturally intolerant to opinions contrary to their 
own ; and he who will presume to differ from the 
majority of the community in which he lives, or 
the sect or party with which he is ranked, must 
expect to be ftmvned upon and evil spoken of. And 
yet he who seeks for truth must have the courage 
to endure all this. He must be content to be sin- 
gular, if the truth makes him so ; content to be 
evil spoken of and misrepresented, if the truth 
requires it ; nay, after the example of the martyrs, 
to go to prison and to death, if the truth demands 
it. Indeed, whether he suffer or not, he must sit 
down to his investigations with the spirit of a 
martyr, or there will be a bias in his mind unfa- 
vorable to the truth. Nothing perhaps, among all 
the hindrances in the way of discovering the 
truth, is more effectual than this discipline of par- 
ty, this tyranny of public opinion. It acts continu- 
ally and powerfully, and is ever present to the 
mind of the moral coward, cramping his investi- 
gations, restraining his reasonings, dwarfing his 
inWUect, and subjecting the whole man to the 



33 



basest of all passions, fear. God in bis provi- 
dence has always frowned upon this moral cow- 
ardice, for wherever you find men submissive to 
this kind of tyranny, there the intellect dwindles, 
there the distinction between truth and falsehood 
becomes faint, and minds that dare not reason 
independently on some subjects, lose the power of 
reasoning correctly on all. 

Truth must also be obtained at the cost of 
those baseless structures, which the discursive 
faculty, aided by the imagination, loves to erect 
in the form of theories and systems. No sooner 
is a gleam of truth discovered, than there is a pro- 
pensity in some minds to form upon it some theory 
of what the truth should be, and afterwards to 
bend all the thoughts to the establishment of 
the theory. Every kind of evidence which can 
be forced into the support of the system is gladly 
received, and admitted with little examination; 
but all opposing evidence is undervalued or 
rejected. This is nothing less than setting up a 
standard to which the truth must conform. It is 
founded on a conceited notion of the perfection of 
human reason, little becoming beings of such 
limited faculties as man. Truth is, doubtless, a 
great scheme, a great system complete in all its 
parts ; but it is only in its parts, separate and 
detached, that we are able to view it. Truth, 
in nature, is not presented to us in the form of a 

complete system, neither is revealed truth so 

2* 



34 



presented. We must be content to take it as it 
is, not as our fancies would conceive it to be. 
For the sake of retaining it in our minds, we 
may arrange in a system what we certainly 
know, but we must take care lest our theories 
go beyond our knowledge. With the simplicity 
of little children, we must receive the truth, 
without seeking to bend it to our own purposes. 
We must cultivate the disposition of mind recom- 
mended by our Lord, when he says, " Whoso- 
ever shall not receive the kingdom of God, as a 
little child, shall in nowise enter therein. " # 

To sum up all in a few words, care, diligence, 
disinterestedness, faith, courage, sincerity, and 
candor, are all to be exercised in the discovery 
of truth ; so that the search for truth calls into 
action, not only our intellectual faculties, but also 
our moral powers, and is a necessary part of that 
discipline, which is designed to fit us for a higher 
state ot beins:. 

Our next inquiry shall be, where is truth to 
be found ? And the answer is obvious, where- 
ever God has manifested it. Physical and scien- 
tific truth, is to be sought in his works, where 
only he has seen fit to reveal it. Not that every 
one who would make himself acquainted with 
this kind of truth, must read it in nature for him- 
self, for he may, and indeed must, receive the 
greater part upon the evidence, and through the 

* Luke xviii. 17. 



36 



reasonings of others ; but for himself, he must 
examine the evidence, and judge of the justness 
of the reasonings, for on himself rests the respon- 
sibility of error, on himself is bestowed the re- 
ward of truth. When he cannot investigate, 
either for want of information or want of leisure, 
and must take his knowledge on trust, he is 
still made the judge of the value of the authority 
on which he relies ; for he cannot, even in such a 
case, escape the responsibility of error. The 
sick man may choose an incompetent physician, 
and yet the danger and suffering consequent upon 
ignorance of the healing art, falls on himself, not 
upon the physician. 

But it is religious and moral truth of which we 

o 

purpose mainly to speak. Where is this to be 
sought? In the absence of revelation it must be 
sought in nature, for there it is written, though to 
our defective vision, blinded by sin, not easy to 
be read. We seek it, therefore, where it stands 
forth in plainer characters, in the Volume of re- 
vealed truth. In that is reiterated what nature 
teaches of the perfections of God, and our duties 
towards him and our fellow-men, with a clear- 
ness and fulness, compared with which the light of 
nature is but darkness ; and in addition to this, 
much more is revealed which nature could not 
teach. The holy Scriptures are the fountain of 
revealed truth, and from them it must be drawn. 
But how ? We answer by seeking it in them, 



each one for himself. The task cannot be de- 
volved upon another ; for that would give no ex- 
ercise to the understanding, would not call into 
action any of the moral faculties, which we have 
seen receive such constant, and such necessary 
discipline in the search for truth. But all re- 
ligious knowledge cannot be obtained by the in- 
dependent investigation of each individual. In 
this respect it is much like natural knowledge. 
The greater part of it must be received upon the 
evidence and through the investigations of others. 
And yet the individual must judge of the evi- 
dence, and adopt or reject the conclusions, by the 
action of his own understanding, for on himself 
will fall the consequences of his errors, according 
to the saying of the wise man, " If thou be wise, 
thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest 
thou alone shalt bear it."* In revelation, as in 
nature, it must happen, that for want of know- 
ledge or for lack of leisure, many things must be 
received upon the testimony of persons mure 
learned and wise than ourselves. Yet, in dis- 
puted cases, we cannot escape the responsibility 
of choosing the authority on which we are to 
rely, and on us falls the loss and danger, if we 
make an improper choice. 

There is an analogy also in the manner of 
acquiring natural, and religious knowledge. The 
infant mind is incapable of receiving either from 

* Proverbs ix. 12. 



37 



the appointed sources of truth, and in the econo- 
my of Divine Providence it is ordained that both 
should be received through the medium of others. 
The child receives through the parent the first 
knowledge of those natural laws which are neces- 
sary to its preservation and comfort. So also it is 
made the duty of the parent to instruct his child in 
the knowledge of the revealed laws of God. But 
let it be remembered that if, in the former case, 
the instruction be erroneous, the child is a sufferer, 
and so it is doubtless in the latter. If the child, 
in consequence of the erroneous instruction of 
his parents, infringes upon the laws which relate 
to his physical existence, he feels the conse- 
quences in the disease and suffering which en- 
sue ; and can it be doubted that if, through the 
teachings of his parent, he becomes imbued with 
the principles of error and irreligion, he will 
also suffer the consequences? The individual 
responsibility of knowing the truth seems to be 
universal. 

The child continues under tutors and gover- 
nors, receiving his knowledge through them, 
taught by the Scriptures to reverence and obey 
his superiors, but as his powers expand, the 
moral responsibility of truth and error begins to 
rest upon him, as well as their consequences ; till 
come to maturity he has special direction from 
the Scriptures themselves, "To prove all things, 



38 



and hold fast that which is good and encour- 
aged by the commendations bestowed upon the 
Bereans,f who tested the preaching of the Apos- 
tles themselves, by an appeal to the Scriptures, 
to examine the inspired volume for himself. 

But the question will arise, if there are truths 
revealed in the Scriptures hard to be understood, 
truths which cannot be discovered without care, 
and diligence, and candor ; what is to save the 
careless, the indolent, and the prejudiced, from 
falling into gross and dangerous error? What is 
to prevent those who take the Scriptures for their 
guide, from falling into wide differences in doc- 
trine and practice, and consequent contentions 
and strife ? We answer, there seems, indeed, to 
be no remedy ; but the fault is not in the Scrip- 
tures, the fault is not in the truth. It is in man 
himself ; in the imperfection of his understand- 
ing, and the wrong bias of his moral nature. 
There is the same difficulty in relation to all 
other truth. Men come to very different conclu- 
sions from the same evidence on all other sub- 
jects ; they run into dangerous error in their 
temporal concerns, ruin their fortunes, and even 
lose their lives on account of their perversions of 
the truth. Revelation, no more than the light of 
nature, compels men to be honest, and candid, 
and diligent in the search for truth. It does not 
make them wise or happy against their will. 

* 1 Thess. v. 21. t Acts xvii. 21. 



39 



When we complain that there is no standard of 
truth which will make all men think alike, we 
find fault not with the standard, but with our 
Maker himself, because man, his creature, is not 
altogether perfect. 

In consequence of the evils experienced from 
the great variety of religious opinions, all claim- 
ing to be founded upon the Scriptures, some have 
asserted the necessity of an infallible guide 
to the truth as revealed in the sacred volume. 
But an infallible guide were of no account, unless 
all would follow it. The Scriptures, we believe 
to be infallible, and sufficiently clear in the great 
practical truths of religion to be intelligible to all. 
And yet, even with respect to these simple truths, 
there is a great diversity of opinion and practice. 
If there were another infallible guide, is there 
any security that men would follow it, unless 
coerced, and if coerced, what becomes of the 
liberty of choice, on which alone rests the ac- 
countabiliy of man to his Maker? Two infallible 
guides could be no better than one, and but one 
has been provided. The claim of that Church, 
which has set up for infallibility, has been suffi- 
ciently refuted by its contradictory decrees, and 
varied interpretations of Scripture ; for infalli- 
bility cannot contradict itself. If it is claimed 
that these contradictions are not in the essentials 
of the faith, it must still be admitted that they 
destroy perfect infallibility; and we should never 



40 



know to what doctrines its infallibility applies, 
except from the decisions of this same fallible in- 
fallibility. 

Still another question arises : has, then, every 
* individual the right of private judgment in his 
understanding of the Scriptures ? If by the right 
of private judgment is meant the right of a man to 
hold what doctrines he will, unrestrained by man 
so long as his principles do not cause him to in- 
vade the rights of others ; he has that right, and 
must be allowed to exercise it, unless, indeed, 
we revive the practice of persecution for con- 
science sake, and renew the horrors of the stake 
and the inquisition. But if by the right of private 
judgment is meant the right to hold in sincerity 
any doctrine however false, and yet escape the 
consequences of error, the idea is not only false 
but impious. In regard to men it is the right of 
private judgment, but in regard to God it is the 
responsibility of private judgment. God requires 
the truth, and however sincere a man may be, if 
he does not believe the truth and obey the truth, 
the consequences of his error, be they what they 
may, must rest upon his own head. 

But is there no remedy for the dissensions, 
and heresies, and divisions which grow out of the 
unrestrained action of private judgment ? Can 
we not urge at least the duty of obedience to 
some authority which will restrain the wayward 
reasoning of men, and keep them within safe 



41 



bounds? But with what force can we urge this 
obedience, when we are obliged to confess that 
the authority itself is fallible ? And if it were 
not, there might be the same difficulty in under- 
standing its teachings, as there is in understanding 
the Scriptures themselves. If the inquirer is 
referred to the teachings of the Church from the 
beginning, he will find it far more difficult to as- 
certain the truth from the decrees of her councils, 
and the writings of her doctors, than in the Scrip- 
tures alone, except it may be in those simple arti- 
cles of the faith which are embodied in her 
creeds, and which are so plainly revealed that only 
the utmost perversion of reason will prevent a man 
from finding them in the Scriptures themselves. 

The remedy for dissensions and heresies, as far 
as there is any, must be found in impressing upon 
every man his individual responsibility to know 
the truth. If he feel that sufficiently, it will be 
the best possible preventive of those rash judg- 
ments by which men so heedlessly rush into error. 
It is the idea of the right of private judgment 
without its responsibility, which makes most men 
so careless of the truth, and produces such deplo- 
rable results. 

The man who will read his Bible with an 
humble and teachable spirit, will find those doc- 
trines of religion on which his practice depends, 
so plain that he who runs may read; but if he 
would proceed further he will find difficulties, he 



42 



will see the need of further knowledge, and if he 
be earnest in his search for truth, he will be led 
to consult those who have had better opportuni- 
ties for knowledge than himself ; and will have 
recourse to the writings of the wise and the 
learned who have gone before him. If he finds 
a variety of opinions and must decide between 
them, he will rely on what he deems the best au- 
thority. If he find one learned man on one side 
of the question, and twenty equally learned on the 
other, he will judge the probability of truth to 
be with the greater number, unless, indeed, 
the other can bring forward reason to balance the 
weight of numerical authority. Thus he is nat- 
urally led to the Church, to seek in it for the truth 
in doubtful cases ; for it is but reasonable to con- 
clude, that what a great number of learned and 
good men, living in different ages and in different 
circumstances, and acting under different influ- 
ences, have all agreed in believing to be taught 
in the Scriptures, is most probably contained in 
them. 

What has been said of the individual respon- 
sibility of error, and the obligation to know and 
believe the truth, does not preclude the idea of 
instruction in the truth. 

The whole moral and religious system of the 
world is a system of instruction. The parent in- 
structs the child, the learned instruct the un- 
learned, and the wise the ignorant. The Church, 



43 



as we propose to show more fully hereafter, is 
the appointed instructor of all in religious truth. 
"It is the witness and keeper of Holy Writ."* 
It is the pillar and ground of the truth, f to hold 
it up before men, to keep it continually before 
their eyes. But it is not infallible in its instruc- 
tions. It may err, and has erred, in interpreting 
the Scriptures, of which it is the appointed keeper. 
It may hold up to the world more or less than 
the truth. Its decrees may therefore be ques- 
tioned, and its errors reformed ; and this work 
must be begun on the responsibility of private 
judgment. Our own branch of the Church allows 
this final, and as some might say, dangerous ap- 
peal to private judgment, in giving for the author- 
ity of her creeds, that they can be proved by 
most certain warrants of Holy Scripture ; and by 
declaring that the Church can decree nothing 
contrary to God's Word written.J 

* Art. xx. t 1 Tim. iii. 15. 

t Art. vi. and xx. — The Church, by appealing to Scripture for 
the authority of her creeds, and by declaring her inability to decree 
any thing contrary to God's Word written, most clearly accords to 
every man the right, and at the same time imposes upon him the 
responsibility, of judging whether her creeds can be proved by Scrip- 
ture, and whether her decrees are not contrary to God's written 
Word. He may choose, indeed, to rely upon the judgment of the 
Church, as the more prudent course, but he does so on his own re- 
sponsibility ; for the decisions of the Church cannot make that true 
to him which is false in itself. If the appeal is not made to the judg- 
ment and conscience of the individual, to whom is it made? Cer- 
tainly not to the Church, for that would involve the absurdity of the 



44 



I must not close these remarks without calling 
your attention to a most important means of arri- 
ving at religious truth ; a means which, for the 
sake of method, I was obliged to pass over in the 
body of this discourse. The means to which I 
allude is earnest prayer to God. Prayer disposes 
the mind to earnestness, faith, candor, disinter- 
estedness, courage, humility. Prayer calls down 
the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit, 
whose office it is to lead the humble, teachable 
spirit into all truth. He who prays earnestly 
cannot greatly err. Begin the search for truth 
with prayer, continue it with prayer, and prayer- 
fully follow what you know, and we may venture 
to say, that the lack of the knowledge of the truth 
will not be your destruction. 

authority that decides, appealing to itself for the validity of its own 
decisions. 



DISCOURSE III. 



THE MEANS AFFORDED FOE INSTRUCTION 
IN THE TRUTH. 

John xvii. 17. 
" Thy word is truth 

God is the only fountain of truth, for he alone 
knows all truth ; and from revelations either in 
his works or in his word, we learn that part of 
the truth which concerns our temporal and eter- 
nal welfare. These revelations are addressed 
through our senses to our understandings, though 
with different degrees of clearness. Some truths 
are made so obvious that we cannot mistake 
them ; some are more obscure, requiring thought 
and reflection to discover them ; and some are 
concealed from us, save only as they are seen in 
glimpses by the wise, and at length brought to 
light after centuries of careful observation and 
research. Thus the search for truth becomes 
the means of exercising and perfecting the un- 
derstanding, and, as was shown in a former dis- 
course, of disciplining the moral faculties also ; 
thus advancing towards their destined perfection, 



46 



all the powers which belong to the immortal 
nature of man. In the two former discourses on 
this subject, I have attempted to show w T hat truth 
is, the individual responsibility of every man to 
know the truth, the cost of truth, or the diligence, 
labor, and self-denial, by which it is to be ac- 
quired, and the sources from which alone it can 
be derived. In the present I shall speak of the 
helps which God, in his providence, has afforded 
to aid in arriving at the truth, and the means 
which he has ordained to preserve the know- 
ledge of the truth, and perpetuate it among men. 

We shall first speak of the helps afforded. 
Little would be the amount of knowledge ac- 
quired, if every one were obliged to discover for 
himself, whatever it was his interest to know. 
A whole life-time would be required to learn 
from experience and observation, what the child 
learns by other means in the few first years of its 
existence. Were an individual to be brought into 
the world in the full maturity of manhood, but 
without some knowledge of the nature, and pro- 
perties of things around him, he would perish 
before he could acquire that knowledge by his 
own unassisted efforts. He would be pressed 
with hunger, without knowing what would allay 
it, or would devour promiscuously, whatever his 
taste did not revolt at, whether healthful or 
poisonous. He would feel the inclemencies of 
the seasons, without knowing how to protect 



47 



himself from them. Man, in this respect, is 
more helpless than the lowest of the brute cre- 
ation. These are provided by their Creator with 
powerful instincts, which instruct them to shun 
the evil and to choose the good ; and prior to all 
experience, they are wise in all the arts which 
are necessary to self-preservation. In man this 
deficiency is supplied by instruction and edu- 
cation. Though he has not instincts of know- 
ledge to direct him like the brutes, yet he has 
stronger instincts of affection. These collect men 
together in families and societies, and give them 
a common interest in each others welfare. The 
gift of speech enables them to communicate 
knowledge from mind to mind ; and an innate 
desire to know on the one hand, and a propensity 
to communicate on the other, soon make the 
knowledge of one, the common property of the 
whole society. 

Admirable, indeed, is the contrivance by 
which knowledge is spread from mind to mind. 
Parents, by the mere instincts of nature are in- 
terested in the welfare of their offspring, and no 
sooner is it capable of receiving knowledge than 
the work of instruction begins. The child is 
taught, as early as possible, those simple laws of 
nature, the knowledge of which is necessary to 
self-preservation. It is taught how to avoid the 
dangers to which it is exposed, to protect itself 
from harm, to provide for its own comfort and 



48 



subsistence ; and each step in knowledge relieves 
the parent from a part of the burden of its 
care ; so that even selfishness is made to aid af- 
fection, in imparting instruction to the generation 
that is to come after. But the parent, either for 
want of knowledge, or of leisure to carry on the 
work of education, as far as he may desire, com- 
mits his child to professional instructors, and the 
work of instruction is carried on still further. 
The appetite for knowledge is increased, its 
benefits and its power are perceived, society 
takes the work in hand, provision is made for 
the diffusion of knowledge, honors and rewards 
await the discoverers of truth, and every one is 
anxious to spread his knowledge before the 
world, to benefit his fellow-men, and receive in 
turn their commendation and reward. Thus the 
truths which may have been discovered, only by 
the persevering labors of the most gifted minds, 
continued through many years, may be conveyed 
to others in a single hour, and become the com- 
mon property of mankind. Thus has God pro- 
vided, that natural knowledge should be made 
known to men, and each new accession to the 
knowledge of the race be preserved for those 
who are to come after. Thus is the new-born 
denizen of -the material world instructed to read 
the book of nature, which God has spread out 
before the wise and ignorant, beginning with its 
simplest truths, and ascending by degrees to its 
higher mysteries. 



49 



In his progress he discovers that its first 
truths are plainly written, and are read and un- 
derstood alike by all ; but as he advances, the 
page grows more obscure ; his instructors do not 
read alike ; he seeks for a solution among hun- 
dreds of professed interpreters of nature ; but 
they disagree. Each has his own hypothesis ; 
his own system ; and his own reasons to support 
it. In this perplexity, arising from conflicting 
systems, how welcome would be an infallible 
guide on whom the learner might rely, and save 
the labor and doubtfulness of an investigation. 
But no infallible guide has been provided. He 
might, perhaps, be inclined to decide the ques- 
tion by the numerical majority for a particular 
hypothesis ; but history tells him of universal 
errors maintained forages ; of theories supported 
by the wise and learned, almost unquestioned 
for many generations; till ■ examined, and dis- 
proved, by the observations and reasonings of a 
single individual. Truth is not always with 
numbers, he reflects, and sits down to con again 
the doubtful page, by the cross lights which 
varied, and often contradictory reasonings, may 
throw upon it. The result may be a confirma- 
tion of what he has been taught at first, or a 
modification of an existing interpretation, or, per- 
chance, a new discovery of the meaning of na- 
ture's hieroglyphics ; and the knowledge of 
another truth be thus given to the world. Thus 
3 



50 



natural knowledge is communicated, and thus 
advanced; though no infallible judgment is in- 
voked, and no authoritative teaching acknow- 
ledged. Each interpreter of nature appeals to 
her open book, and calls on all to read there the 
truths which he professes to have discovered. 

I have dwelt thus long on the helps afforded 
in obtaining a knowledge of natural truth, on ac- 
count of the analogy between it and revealed 
truth. Both are alike simple and clear in their 
first practical principles ; both run up into some- 
thing higher and more obscure ; both are infinite 
in extent, and reveal truths incomprehensible to 
finite understandings. Yet there are differences 
which must modify both the helps afforded for 
obtaining a knowledge of revealed truth, and the 
means of preserving and perpetuating it among 
men. Natural truth relates to this present life 
of sense. The knowledge of it, is necessary to 
the existence and comfort of man. Its benefits 
are present, tangible, evident to all. Instruction 
in natural truth, may safely be left to parental 
affection, or parental selfishness ; to the interests 
of individuals and communities ; to the innate 
love of knowledge, and the vanity, or benevo- 
lence, or love of notoriety, which prompts men to 
communicate all they know to others. Not so 
with revealed truth. Man can exist in physical 
comfort without the knowledge of it. It relates 
to the spiritual and the unseen. Its benefits are 



51 



chiefly future, invisible, inappreciable, except by 
faith. Instruction in revealed truth may not be 
safely left to parental affection alone, for parents 
may be unimpressed with its value. It may not 
be left to the operation of private or public inter- 
ests ; for both individuals and communities are 
too much engrossed by the sensible and the visi- 
ble, to give sufficient attention to the spiritual 
and the unseen. Other, and more efficient means 
of instruction, must, therefore, be provided, or the 
knowledge of revealed truth would not be dif- 
fused among men. 

Another difference between natural and re- 
vealed truth is, that the records of the former are 
indestructible and incorruptible by the hand of 
man; while those of the latter are not. Man 
may pervert, but not obliterate or interpolate the 
truths written by God's own hand in the open 
volume of nature. They stand the same, age 
after age, engraven on earth and sky, and all that 
they contain ; and coming generations may read 
them there, though now they are unnoticed, or 
misapprehended. But revealed truth is written 
by the hand of man, on materials subject to de- 
cay and destruction. The volume of inspiration 
may be destroyed ; its truths may be obliterated, 
and the new conjectures of fauciful men intro- 
duced in their stead, to make it more agreeable 
to the conception of fallen humanity. It may be 
hidden from the world, that those, who would use 



52 



its authority to exalt themselves, may miscon- 
strue its teachings, or pervert them to serve their 
own ambitious purposes. Provision must, there- 
fore, be made for its safe keeping, and preserva- 
tion in its integrity and purity. 

Now to accomplish these two purposes, — in- 
struction in the truths of revelation, and the pre- 
servation in their integrity and purity of the 
books which contain them, a visible society has 
been organized, with a divine constitution, pos- 
sessed of certain powers, obligated to perform 
certain duties, and enjoying certain privileges ; 
all of which are either clearly expressed or ne- 
cessarily implied in the revelation itself. This 
society is the Church, and was first completely 
organized among the Israelites in the wilderness, 
when the first written revelation was given to 
man. To it was committed the Law of God as 
revealed to Moses. A family was set apart for 
the priesthood, to perform in behalf of the people 
the higher offices of religion, and a whole tribe 
appointed instructors, to inform the people in the 
knowledge of the law. Yet not to the priests 
and Levites alone, was intrusted the duty of in- 
structing in the law. Parents were commanded 
to teach diligently to their children the com- 
mandments of God, to talk of them when rising 
up, and when lying down, and when walking by 
the way.* The law was to be in the hands of 

* Deut. vi. 7. 



53 



all, and no exclusive authority of interpretation 
was given, as we can any where learn, either to 
priests or Levites ; and when God saw fit to add to 
the revelation already given, the prophets to whom 
he made known his will, were chosen, not from the 
tribe of priests alone, but promiscuously from all. 

When in the fulness of time Christ came, and 
in his own person fulfilled the prophetic types 
and shadows of the law, a change was necessa- 
rily made in the public ceremonies of religion, 
and a corresponding change in the functions of 
the priesthood and the organization of the Church. 
But still it continued to be the same Church, and 
charged with the same duty of giving instruction 
in the truths of revelation, and preserving that 
revelation in its integrity. The Church, indeed, 
has other duties to perform, and other ends to ac- 
complish ; but of those it is not my present pur- 
pose to speak ; for it is only in its relation to the 
truth that we now consider the Church. " Go 
teach all nations-, baptising them in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
ever I have commanded you,"* is the great com- 
mission, given to the Church, organised anew 
under a better dispensation. It was given through 
its chief ministers to the whole body, but more 
especially to those who should be found worthy 
from their wisdom and knowledge of the Word 

* Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 



54 



of God, to bear the office of commissioned instruct- 
ors. They were to teach men to observe what- 
soever their Lord had commanded, and that only. 
What he had commanded his Apostles, we may 
conclude was intended to embrace all the moral 
precepts of the Jewish Scriptures, for these he 
had appealed to as the law of God ; all the in- 
structions which he had given them while they 
attended on his ministry ; and also, whatever the 
Holy Ghost, whom he had promised to send 
to them, should reveal or bring to their remem- 
brance of what he had taught while he was 
with them.* All, then, that the Church is com- 
missioned to teach, are the Scriptures of the Old 
Testament, so far as they are not abrogated by the 
New, the instructions of our Lord, and those of 
his inspired Apostles. These together form the 
volume of revealed truth, and contain all that the 
Church is commissioned to teach. 

The Church is to instruct mankind in the 
truths contained in this volume ; but it has no 
power over the truth itself. However obscure 
some parts of the Scripture may be, they have 
nevertheless a fixed meaning, and that meaning 
is the truth. But it is nowhere said in the Scrip- 
ture, that the Church, or any body of men in the 
Church, has authority to fix that meaning, so that 
he who departs from it must necessarily be in 
error. We are nowhere commanded to receive 

* John xiv. 26. 



the Word of God as the Church, or any body of 
men in the Church, shall construe it. In this re- 
spect, there seems to be a perfect analogy between 
the book of nature and the book of revelation. 
Both are open to all, to the wise and the unwise, 
to the learned and the unlearned, and no one is 
bound to follow one interpretation rather than an- 
other, provided, he only reads and understands 
aright. In both cases the truth is required, and 
that interpretation only has authority, which con- 
forms to the truth. The only difference, as has 
been shown, appears to be, that a system of in- 
struction has been provided in the one, while in 
the other, the desired end is accomplished by other 
means. In neither has an infallible guide been 
provided. Indeed, there can be no authorita- 
tive interpreter of Scripture, without that inter- 
preter having co-ordinate authority with the Scrip- 
lure itself; for that which pronounces authorita- 
tively on the meaning of a proposition, pronounces 
also upon its truth, as it is upon its meaning that 
its truth depends.* 

* The general principle here enunciated may need further elu- 
cidation. If a proposition strictly true be yet of doubtful meaning, it 
may be made false by a wrong interpretation, or a wrong application ; 
for in that case, it is no longer the proposition intended. The truth 
of the proposition depends upon the meaning given to the enuncia- 
tion. If then, the meaning of a portion of Scripture be doubtful, and 
an authority exists whose interpretations we are bound to receive as 
truth, that authority must be infallible, like the Scripture itself; for 
if it can judge amiss, its interpretations may be at variance with the 
true meaning of the Scripture, and therefore erroneous ; .and we 



56 



It is true that the Church is called in Scripture 
the pillar and ground of the truth, but this gives 
it no control over the truth itself, or power to bind 
the conscience to receive all its interpretations of 
Scripture. Give the words their strongest mean- 
ing, the pillar and support of the truth,, and they 
assert no more than that the Church holds the 
truth up to the view of men, keeps the knowledge 
of it in the world, and sustains and supports it by 
reason, and argument, and zeal, when assailed by 
unbelievers : and this it does by preserving its 
records from destruction or corruption, and by 
doing its appointed work of instruction — teaching 
all men to observe whatsoever Christ has com- 
manded. 

And now let us see how the Church carries 
on this work of instruction. First, it is made the 
duty of the parent to instruct his child in the 
knowledge of revelation. So soon as the child can 
grasp the idea of a Supreme Being, the parent 
points to the heavens above and to the earth be- 
neath, shows him the evidences of Almighty 
power, and, ere the question arises in the infant 
mind, how know you this ? he shows him the 
Book of God, and bids him read it there. As the 
mind of the child expands, the lesson still is, thus 

should be bound to receive that for truth, which is essentially false. 
Whether there be an infallible interpreter of Scripture, is a question 
of fact, which has been briefly discussed in the second discourse. See 
page 39. 



57 



and thus hath God revealed himself to men. If 
the parent instruct not his child, then it becomes 
the duty of the Church, through her appointed min- 
isters, to admonish him, in like manner, from the 
Word of God, to point out his duty, and the con- 
sequences of neglecting it. It is not the Church 
that commands — it is God, it is Christ, that com- 
mands, and the Church exhorts to obedience. If 
the parent cannot or will not instruct his children 
in the knowledge of revealed truth, or when they 
are grown beyond his knowledge, then they fall 
under the instruction of the appointed teachers in 
the Church ; men who, having been tried and 
examined by their superiors in office, are found 
competent to instruct in the truths revealed in the 
Word of God. Still the same system is pursued. 
This doctrine is true, because God has thus and 
so revealed it ; this precept is to be observed, 
because Christ has commanded it ; this virtue is 
to be cultivated, because the Holy Scripture has 
commended it. Other reasons, other motives may 
be urged, but all the authority of the instruction 
is based on what God has revealed. Higher still 
than these may be other instructors, to whom 
they may resort for knowledge ; the higher grades 
of the ministry, the wise, the learned, to whom 
God has given superior gifts of knowledge, the 
men of past ages, who have bequeathed their re- 
corded wisdom to the Church ; all helping to elu- 
cidate the word of truth, and bring its deeper 
3* 



58 



mysteries within the grasp of the human under- 
standing. 

The whole is a stupendous system of in- 
struction, in which almost all are teachers, and 
all are learners. The youth instructs the child, 
the man the youth, the appointed ministers of 
religion all. The ignorant rely upon the wise, 
the unlearned upon the learned, the present gene- 
ration on those who have gone before them, and 
all ultimately upon the word of truth itself, to 
which all appeal. 

And now let us trace the learner as he pro- 
ceeds in knowledge, after the word of truth is laid 
before him. He finds its first practical truths so 
plain, that they are understood alike by all, but 
no sooner does he pass these, than his instructors 
disagree, and the farther he advances, the greater 
becomes the diversity of interpretation ; and then 
are called into exercise, the powers of his own 
understanding; for if he would decide intelligibly 
on the safest authority to follow, he must rely on 
his own understanding. If he would rest on the 
authority of numbers, he will, as in natural 
knowledge, discover that there have been religious 
errors almost universal, that there have been pre- 
vailing interpretations of prophecy that the event 
has disproved, and he will at last be brought to 
the task of sitting down with the word of truth 
before him, and, using all the lights which his 
tea.chers living and dead can afford, applying the 



59 

reason which God has given him in order to ascer- 
tain the truth for himself. A pretended, infallible, 
or authoritative interpreter, would be welcome to 
that listless indolence which corrupt human na- 
ture would indulge, in the vain hope of reversing 
that universal law, b}^ which truth is made the 
reward of labor, and diligence, and self-denial. 

Whatever the uninspired writings of the 
ancient fathers of the Church may teach, whatever 
the decrees of councils, whether prqvincial or 
general, may have determined, is to be considered 
in the light of evidence, not authority; it may be 
examined as evidence rebutted by other evidence, 
and received or rejected, according to the pre- 
ponderance of testimony for its agreement with 
the word of truth. They show what was the 
general opinion of the Church on controverted 
points of doctrine, and what was the meaning 
attached to portions of the Scripture in those 
days, by learned and pious men, and are valu- 
able in proportion to the means of information in 
their possession. In all questions of practice, 
founded on obscure or doubtful passages of 
Scripture, in all interpretations requiring a know- 
ledge of figurative language, founded on customs 
and modes of thinking prevailing in those early 
days, they are valuable, and almost conclusive 
evidence ; but in many things the interpretations 
of the ancient Church are of less authority than 
those of the modern, for the knowledge of some 



GO 



things that the Scripture contains, is like all other 
knowledge, progressive, of which we now notice 
but a single instance, the understanding of pro- 
phecy, w r hich is perfected only as the prophecies 
are fulfilled. 

We do not deny that there is great authority in 
the teachings of the Church — an authority not 
lightly to be disregarded ; but it is an authority 
that appeals to reason, not to faith ; an authority 
deriving its chief force from the agreement of 
honest, and learned, and wise, but fallible men, 
in the same truth ; an authority, however, which 
should cause a man to suspect his own course of 
reasoning, if he differs from it, and lead him to 
review it again and again, ere he rests upon his 
conclusion. 

Thus we consider the Church the appointed 
instructor in the truths of revelation ; and it is in 
the discharge of this duty, that it preserves in 
its integrity and purity the truth itself. It being 
made the duty of all who teach, to instruct out of 
the Scriptures, as the Church extends it borders, 
copies of the Scriptures must of necessity be 
multiplied, rendering it almost impossible that 
every copy should be destroyed. The same cir- 
cumstance preserves it from mutilation or corrup- 
tion. One copy might easily be mutilated or 
corrupted ; a Church in a particular country, 
might decide to receive an imperfect or an inter- 
polated Bible, but the cheat could be detected by 



61 



the numbers which still remained in the posses- 
sion of other Churches, and in the hands of pious 
individuals. Even the differences in interpreta- 
tion, and the intemperate zeal with which pride 
inspires men to maintain their own opinions, 
have contributed to the same result, by making 
them sharp to detect, and eager to expose the 
least alteration in the Sacred Volume. By mak- 
ing the word of God the foundation of all her in- 
structions, the Church has best fulfilled her work, 
as the keeper of Holy Writ, " the pillar and 
ground of the truth." 

Another means by which the truth is preserved 
and perpetuated is, the proper exercise of the 
right of private judgment. Without this, an er- 
ror once introduced into the Church, must for 
ever be perpetuated ; for no individual could 
question the decisions of the Church, nor propose 
an alteration either in its creed, or in its practice, 
except, indeed, an addition were to be made to 
either. But private judgment, though it may be 
troublesome, and clamorous, and sometimes schis- 
matical, checks the insidious growth of error in the 
Church, and saves it from the worse evil of a 
general corruption. It was the denial of the right 
of private judgment, that brought in the worst 
corruptions of the Church of Rome. Errors upon 
errors were introduced by corrupt bishops and 
ambitious popes, and none allowed to question 
them on pain of excommunication, or the still 



62 



severer punishments of the secular arm, till at 
length they were embodied in her creeds and 
confessions by the pretended General Council 
of Trent, and fixed for ever as a part of her re- 
ligious s} T stem. And it was by the assertion of 
the right of private judgment, in the face of suf- 
fering and death, that the ancient faith was re- 
stored by our forefathers, and the word of God 
reinstated in its supremacy, over the decisions of 
fallible men. 

But has the Church nothing to do with the 
truth except to make it the ground of her instruc- 
tion, and hold it up before the world ? She has a 
certain power to act in relation to the truth for 
the purposes of discipline and order. She holds 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and, there- 
fore, must decide judicially as to those who are 
proper members of that kingdom. She therefore 
does decide, what must be the faith professed, in 
order to entitle an individual to the benefits and 
privileges of membership. But she decides judi- 
cially, not absolutely, and appeals to the Holy 
Scripture in her decision, as the source and arbi- 
ter of her judgment ; and this she does by de- 
claring that her summary of religious doctrine, 
on profession of which alone she admits to her 
communion, 44 can be proved by most certain war- 
rants of Holy Scripture." She requires only those 
truths to be received which, in her judgment, 
every man of common understanding may find in 



(53 



the Scriptures for himself. If she require that to 
be received which is opposed to the word of 
God, no man is bound to believe it, and if on 
that account he is cast out of the Church, he suf- 
fers for truth's sake, and will find his reward 
among the martyrs and confessors who have been 
faithful unto death. 

But to those who aspire to be public teachers, 
a closer test is applied, and as they are presumed 
tt> have more knowledge of the word of God, they 
are required to profess (before they become teach- 
ers) their belief in such doctrines as, in the judg- 
ment of the Church, a man of candid mind and 
competent learning, may find clearly revealed in 
the Scriptures. Still he is required to believe 
them because he can find them there, and not 
because the Church has decreed them to be 
true. Our own branch of the Church acknow- 
ledges in all her formularies this supremacy of 
Scripture, and urges, nay, requires all who teach, 
to pledge themselves in the most solemn manner to 
teach on the authority of the word of truth alone. 
The solemn question in her ordination service is, 
"Are you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures 
contain all doctrine required as necessary for 
eternal salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ; 
and are you determined out of the said Scrip- 
tures to instruct the people committed to your 
charge, and to teach nothing as necessary to 
eternal salvation, but that which you shall be 



64 



persuaded may be concluded and proved from 
Scripture." The candidate is also required to 
pledge himself to be " ready with all faithful 
diligence to banish and drive away from the 
Church all erroneous and strange doctrine, con- 
trary to God's word." 

Thus are the truths of revelation committed 
to the Church, not only in her corporate capacity, 
but to each individual teacher, nay, even to each 
individual member, to keep, to guard, to defend* 
and transmit unimpaired and uncorrupted to the 
generations which shall follow. Amidst all the 
ignorance, and presumption, and self conceit, and 
imperfection of understanding, and pride, and 
wickedness, which prevail among those who pro- 
fess to take the Scriptures for their guide, there 
will be great differences of belief, there will be 
dissensions, and schisms, and controversies fierce 
and uncharitable ; and a wavering faith may 
tremble lest, amidst all this uproar and conten- 
tion, truth should perish from the earth ; } T et the 
God of truth overrules all these evils to its pre- 
servation ; and we have the strongest possible 
evidence that the Holy Scriptures, which have 
come down to us through so many centuries of 
strife, and contention, and controversy, contain in 
every important particular, the very words which 
were originally written hy their inspired authors. 

All human contrivances and enactments to 
preserve truth and unity in the Church, by length- 



65 



ened creeds and minute confessions enforced by 
penalties, have utterly failed, or rather increased 
the evil ; for the greater the number of points of 
agreement required, the more numerous the 
causes of dissension, and the greater the tempta- 
tions to schism. It is distrust of the truth, and 
want of faith in the God of truth, that has caused 
so many human guards to be set over it; that in- 
vokes the Church to decide every controversy, 
and implores it to take upon itself the province of 
authoritative interpretation of Scripture. Let the 
Church be sparing of her decisions ; let her creed 
contain only those doctrines of Scripture which 
are necessary to salvation ; let her impose no 
burdens and restraints upon her members, except 
those which are indispensable to the maintain- 
ance of order and discipline, and her own exist- 
ence in peace and righteousness ; let a wide 
liberty be enjoyed in religious rites and ceremo- 
nies, and allowed also in belief; aud let those in 
authority be careful to inculcate meekness, and 
forbearance, and charity ; and the unity of the 
Church would be better preserved than by all 
the anathemas that have been hurled at the 
heads of sectaries, schismatics, and heretics. 
But entire peace and unity is not to be looked for 
in the Church militant. While men are imper- 
fect, error will exist, and controversies will arise, 
and human passions will be aroused, and strife 
will ensue ; but 3 r et the meek and humble Chris- 



6C 

tian will read the Scriptures in simple faith, and 
delight himself in the truth, and bless God for 
the continued preservation of His holy word, and 
the helps afforded to find in it, his Saviour and 
his duty. 



DISCOURSE IV. 



THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH IN 
RELATION TO THE TRUTH. 

Matthew xviii. 18. 
11 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on 
earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall 
loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." 

It hath pleased the Almighty Ruler of all to or- 
dain, that the moral government of the world 
should be carried on, partly by his natural provi- 
dence, and partly by the instrumentality of men. 
He has given to man interests and propensities, 
and laid him under necessities and obligations, 
which secure the existence of organized society. 
He has made truth, righteousness, and equity the 
fundamental law of that society, without which 
it cannot exist in order and peace, and promote 
the welfare and security of the individuals who 
compose it. The administration of this funda- 
mental law he has committed to human hands, to 
those whom He, either through common course of 
providence, or the choice of the society itself, has 



68 



intrusted with the powers of government ; to 
Kings, to Senates, to Governors, and Magistrates, 
His vicegerents on earth. They are armed with 
a portion of His authority — they are the ministers 
of God to the people over whom they are placed, 
for the punishment of evil-doers, and the praise 
of them that do well.* Yet they have no author- 
ity, save what is based on the immutable law of 
God. They may enact and enforce laws, only in 
accordance with that ; and from that they derive 
all their power to bind the consciences of men 
and exact their obedience. The justice which 
they execute, becomes a part of the justice of 
Jehovah. The injustice and oppression of which 
they may be guilty, He disowns ; that forms no 
part of His government. They have done it con- 
trary to His commands, and they are responsible 
for the evil. The innocent victim of their oppres- 
sion and injustice, will have his wrongs redressed 
at that final tribunal, where the disorders of this 
life will be rectified, and men receive their ever- 
lasting rewards. 

The obedience which men owe to human 
government, they owe, only as it is a part of the 
divine. When it requires obedience to laws 
which are in opposition to the law of God, the 
subject must disobey ; for he owes a higher alle- 
giance to his Creator than to any human govern- 
ment. He must boldly assert the principle that 

* Rom. xiii. 



69 



the Apostles did of old : " We ought to obey God 
rather than man,"* and act accordingly. But 
who is to decide whether a human law is in op- 
position to the law of God ? Evidently not the 
government itself, for if it be in error, its decision 
must either repeal the law, or confirm its own 
error. If it be unprincipled, and conscious of 
having enacted an unjust law, the same want of 
principle will produce a decision in confirmation 
of the law. Yet notwithstanding, the individual 
is bound to obey God rather than man. On him 
rests the sole responsibility of his actions, and to 
his judgment and conscience must therefore be 
committed the right and responsibility of deciding. 
His decision may be wrong, for infallibility is no 
more the attribute of the individual, than of the 
government ; and then he will bear the double 
consequences of his disobedience — the penalty of 
the law, and the displeasure of his Maker. But, 
if his decision be right, though he must bear the 
penalty of the law, yet shall his faith and obedi- 
ence towards God be abundantly rewarded, in 
that day when God will render to every man ac- 
cording to his works. 

But disobedience to an unjust law is not ne- 
cessarily rebellion against the government. A 
man may refuse obedience to an unrighteous law, 
and yet quietly submit to its penalty, while he 
cheerfully obeys in all, except that wherein obe= 
* Acts v. 29. 



70 



dience to God requires disobedience to the govern- 
ment. This was the principle acted upon by the 
Apostles, who commanded submission to the civil 
powers,* yet taught, both by precept and exam- 
ple, that men ought to suffer death, rather than 
break one of God's commandments at the order 
of the magistrate. It was the principle so nobly 
sustained by the primitive Christians, who, rather 
than obey the command of the magistrates, to sac- 
rifice to the gods of Rome, willingly delivered 
themselves over to the severest tortures that hu- 
man cruelty could inflict. 

We may even go further, and say, that while 
human governments exist by the ordinance of 
God, and men are bound to obey them, when 
they do not contravene his declared will ; and 
ought quietly to submit to the penalties they im- 
pose, if a good conscience towards God will not 
allow them to obey, in what they are persuaded 
is opposed to His will ; there is j'et a point, be- 
yond which the duty of obedience ceases, and the 
duty of resistance begins. When a government 
habitually assumes powers which God has never 
delegated to man ; when it becomes destructive 
of the ends for which it was instituted ; when it 
substitutes violence, oppression, and wrong, for 
security, protection, and justice, then it becomes 
the duty of the governed to take upon themselves 
the responsibility of overturning the government, 

* 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. 



71 



and substituting another in its place. But who 
shall decide when such an exigency occurs ? 
Evidently not the government itself. From the 
nature of the case, the decision must be left to the 
judgment and conscience of the governed. On 
them rests the responsibility of judging when the 
necessity has arrived, which justifies a resort to 
the dangerous and uncertain remedy of a revolu- 
tion. It is a last appeal to the justice of God, 
from the tyranny of men ; and those who make it 
take upon themselves an awful responsibility ; for 
if they err, on them rests the guilt of the crimes, 
and cruelties, and devastations which ensue. 
There is such a thing as the right of revolution, 
and although men may be disposed to resort to it 
when the necessity which justifies this resort may 
not exist ; yet this circumstance does not destroy 
the right, and make passive submission in every 
case, a duty. The denial of this right takes 
away the last hope of oppressed humanity, and 
arms the ministers of evil with the authority of 
Heaven. 

Such are the limitations, under which power 
is intrusted to fallible men ; such the rights ac- 
corded to those placed under their authority, and 
subjected to their control. 

When, therefore, we interpret language which 
expresses a grant of power given by God to men, 
we must interpret it with such limitations, as the 
nature of the case demands ; for this is implied 



72 



in the language itself. It is in this sense that the 
ablest commentators have interpreted the passage 
of Scripture which we have chosen for our text. 
It is a declaration of the grant of power which 
Christ, as the head, has given to his Church ; and 
is subject to such limitations in its meaning, as the 
nature of the case demands. "Verily, I say 
unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall 
be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose 
on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." The limi- 
tation is, whatsoever ye shall bind or loose, in ac- 
cordance with the manifest and revealed will of 
God, shall be bound and loosed in heaven. That 
is, shall be ratified and confirmed in heaven. The 
meaning of binding and loosing, as here used, has 
reference to the decisions of the Church, in cases of 
discipline, as may be seen from the connexion: — 
" If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell 
him his fault, between thee and him alone ; if he 
shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee 
one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three 
witnesses every word may be established. And 
if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the 
Church ; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let 
him be unto thee as a heathen and a publican. 
Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind 
on earth, shall be bound in heaven," &c. We 
may say, therefore, that the text is the grant of 
the power of government to the Church— not ab- 



solute and irresponsible government, but govern- 
ment administered according to established prin- 
ciples and prescribed rules ; for in the case to 
which the text alludes, the exact method of pro- 
ceeding is laid down. l&t. Private reconciliation 
with the offender is to be sought. 2d. It is to be 
sought again in the presence of two or three wit- 
nesses. 3d. Complaint is to be made to the au- 
thorities of the Church, and if he still continue 
incorrigible, by their decision he is tt) be cast out 
of it ; and their sentence will be approved and 
confirmed in heaven. But, although the grant of 
authority in the text is applied to the particular 
case of discipline for private offences, it is, with- 
out doubt, intended to be general ; for the same 
grant is made to St. Peter, as to one in authority 
in the Church, without restriction to any parti- 
cular kind of action. " I will give unto thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in hea- 
ven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, 
shall be loosed in heaven." We may, therefore, 
consider the text as conferring upon the Church, 
authority to govern its own members in every 
thing necessary to its existence, its order and 
peace, and the furtherance of the ends for which 
it was established. But the authority given in 
this grant, is of a like nature with the authority 
given to civil government. It is responsible au- 
thority — authority derived from God, to be exer- 
4 



74 



cised as his law directs, and in subservency to it; 
deriving all its power over the conscience, all its 
claims to obedience, from his declared will. If it 
decree what is opposed to his will, no one is 
bound to obey the decree, but ought rather to 
assert boldly the principle, " We ought to obey 
God, rather than man." There is, in this re- 
spect, a close analogy between the government 
of the Church, and civil government ; both are 
ordained of God — both are intrusted with a por- 
tion of his authoritj^ — both have power over the 
conscience only as they execute his will. 

I shall proceed to trace this analogy in some 
particulars, in order to illustrate the prerogatives 
of the Church, and the duty of submission to its 
rightful authority. In this discussion, I shall take 
for granted, that Christ has established a Church 
in the world ; that he has given it a divine con- 
stitution, an organic law, designed to be perma- 
nent, and has conferred on it benefits and privi- 
leges which pertain to it as an organized body. 
What that constitution is, and what those benefits 
and privileges are, in their details, it is not my 
present purpose to discuss. And when I speak 
of the Church as legislating, deciding, and acting, 
I would be understood to represent it as perform- 
ing these functions through its appointed legis- 
lators, judges, and governors, whoever they may 
be. The first point of analogy is, that both civil 
government and the Church exist by the appoint- 



ment of God. The obedience enjoined every- 
where in the Scriptures, to the civil authority, 
proves that it is God's ordinance, for the tem- 
poral welfare of men. The direct grant of au- 
thority in the text, and similar passages of Scrip- 
ture, and also numerous injunctions to obedience 
to those who rule in the Church, prove the same 
in regard to the Church. 

It is evident, therefore, that it is both the duty 
and the interest of every man, to place himself 
within the pale of each. Man is born into the 
world a subject of civil government, and is com- 
pelled, both by the instincts of his nature, and 
the necessities of his circumstances, to submit 
himself to it, in some form. He cannot exist in 
entire solitude ; his instincts and his necessities 
both urge him to seek association with his kind. 
And where men congregate together, there must 
be government to restrain mutual wrong and in- 
jury, to insure mutual good will and benefit. Thus 
by the appointment of God, the duty of submission 
to civil government is enforced. So also in re- 
gard to the Church. It is the duty of every one 
to live within its pale, and submit to its rightful 
authority. But this duty is enforced not by pres- 
ent pains and inconveniences, as in the other 
case ; but by sanctions based on the retributions 
of eternity. Those who are commissioned to go 
forth and gather mankind under its authority and 
protection, are authorized to declare, " He that 



believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; and he 
that believeth not shall be damned."* By natural 
generation and birth men come within the pale 
of civil government, and continue there while 
they retain the characteristics of a rational and 
moral nature : by spiritual generation and baptism, 
they become members of the Church of Christ, 
and continue such while they retain the charac- 
teristics of a renewed and holy nature. 

In one particular only, the analagy does not 
hold. All men must, of necessity, be subjects of 
civil government. Its sway is over the bodies and 
actions of men. But the Church seeks to reign 
in the wills and consciences of men; and its 
severest punishment is to deprive the offender 
of the privileges and benefits which it confers 
upon its members. It is a kingdom not of this 
world, though in the world. All its legislation 
and decisions have some reference to the world 
to come. It is there that its final punishments 
will take place, and its final rewards be realized ; 
not through the ministry of fallible men, but by 
the direct agency of Almighty God. In conse- 
quence of this difference, the Church has one 
function which does not belong to civil govern- 
ment. It must decide, in the first place, who are 
fit persons to be received within its pale, and 
become entitled to its privileges. But this deci- 
sion is not arbitrary. It is not a legislative, but 

* Mark xxi. 16. 



77 



a judicial act. The revelation of God is the or- 
ganic law. The Church applies the law to indi- 
viduals, and admits or rejects them according to 
its judgment of their qualifications. But, from 
the nature of the case, the Church universal can- 
not act in each individual instance ; the Church 
in any country or province cannot. But it can 
legislate on the subject. It can make rules to 
guide the judgment of those to whom must be 
intrusted the duty of admitting individuals to its 
membership. Belief in Christ is the grand re- 
quisite for membership. The Apostles were in- 
structed, "He that believeth and is baptised shall 
be saved." But belief, in its widest extent, em- 
braces all that God has revealed ; and that is 
scattered up and down throughout the Bible in 
various propositions, and wise and good men do 
not agree upon its meaning in many particulars, 
and many things are beyond the reach of finite 
minds ; so that if belief in all that is revealed 
were required, a knowledge of all that is revealed 
must be required also. None, therefore, but a 
mature and well instructed Christian could be 
admitted into the Church, and one of the chief 
functions of the Church, which is to instruct and 
edify its members in the faith and in the know- 
ledge of God, would be taken away. The 
Church must, therefore, determine what a man 
must believe, out of all that is revealed, in order 
to entitle him to become a member of it, and 



76 



a sharer of its privileges. It would not be 
enough for the candidate for admission to affirm 
that he believed the whole word of God ; it 
would be necessary also to know that he did 
not, in his belief, pervert its meauing. The 
Church, therefore, arranges in a few distinct 
propositions, those fundamental truths of rev- 
elation, the belief of which, in its judgment, is 
essential to Christianity ; and directs, that with- 
out a solemn profession of belief in these, no one 
can be admitted to its privileges. Yet it is not 
the act of the Church that makes belief in these 
truths binding upon all. They are bound to be- 
lieve them, because they are true, and because 
God has revealed them. Our own branch of the 
Church declares that its creeds ought thoroughly 
to be received, for they may be proved by most 
certain warrants of Holy Scripture ; thereby im- 
plying, that all their authority over the conscience 
is based upon their agreement with the Word of 
God. Nevertheless, the creed adopted by the 
Church has a certain kind of authority, based 
upon the action of the Church itself. Its minis- 
ters may not admit to membership any one who 
does not profess to believe its creed, even though 
they are convinced in their consciences, that the 
creed is erroneous. In their official acts, they 
cannot honestly take from it, or add to it. They 
are restrained in their action by the decisions of 
the Church, and if they are persuaded that the 



79 



Church commands them to do wrong, they must 
cease to act in their official capacity. We even 
go farther, and say, that the private member of 
the Church has no right to quarrel with its creed. 
By the decision of competent authority, belief in 
this has been made the condition of admission to 
certain privileges ; and if he cannot in his con- 
science assent to it, he must forego these privi- 
leges, though he may use all his endeavors to 
bring about a different decision. 

And here, to prevent misunderstanding, let 
me also remark, that the creeds which we receive 
have another element of authority, founded in a 
strong presumption that they do agree entirely 
with the Word of God. They are nearly as an- 
cient as Christianity itself, and in every age since, 
they have received the almost unanimous assent 
of the whole Christian Church. Good, and wise, 
and learned men, have found these fundamental 
truths in the writings of the Apostles, soon after 
they had gone to their rest ; and the same class of 
men have found them there in every succeeding 
age ; and minds trained under various and differ- 
ent influences, in countries widely separate, have 
also found them there. This universal assent, so 
widely extended, both as to time and place, and 
on a subject open to the investigations of all, af- 
fords the strongest possible proof. It may be 
esteemed a moral demonstration of the fact stated 
in the Article already quoted, that the creeds may 



so 



be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scrip- 
ture. 

But we return to our subject. The Church 
having decided as to what the Holy Scriptures 
require as qualifications for admission to its priv- 
ileges, it has the power also to act in all that 
concerns the promotion of the ends for which it 
was instituted. And here its action is analagous 
to that of the civil government. The great prin- 
ciples of natural justice constitute the fundamen- 
tal law of civil society, and all its action and 
legislation, in promoting the security and welfare 
of society, must be based upon that law. So in 
the Church ; the revealed will of God is its rule 
of action, and all its authority over the consciences 
of its members, is based upon its conformity to 
that rule. Let us consider some of the ends for 
which it was instituted, and see how it can effect 
these ends in conformity to this rule. 

One of the ends for which the Church was in- 
stituted, was to promote order, and peace, and 
moral virtue among men. This it does, first, by 
its ministry through the power of persuasion, set- 
ting forth the law of peace, of purity, and holi- 
ness, as revealed in the Scriptures, and urging 
men, by motives drawn from both the present 
and the future, by the commands of God, and the 
awful retributions of eternity, to obey this law ; 
second, by its discipline, whereby it admonishes, 
rebukes, warns, and finally casts forth from its 



81 



bosom, the incorrigible offender. And here, again, 
the Church has an authority to act. It has the 
law of God for its rule, but it must apply this rule 
to individual cases. It must decide whether the 
person accused of the breach of the law is really 
guilty ; and since all law must of necessity be 
expressed in general propositions, it must also 
declare what particular acts are a breach of the 
law. The Church may therefore give rules for 
the proceedings of those to whom its discipline 
is intrusted, and these rules have a binding au- 
thority, when they do not directly contravene the 
Word of God. 

Another end for which the Church was insti- 
tuted is the propagation and preservation of the 
truth among men, and especially among its own 
members. The truths revealed in the Holy 
Scriptures are committed to its keeping, with the 
solemn injunction to make them known to every 
creature, to hold them up before the world in their 
integrity and purity. To effect this end, the 
Church has power to ordain the means, in every 
particular not before determined in Scripture it- 
self; and its action is binding upon its mem- 
bers. The Church is the appointed teacher of 
the truths of revelation, and where individual 
members are liable to differ in opinion, it must 
decide what shall be taught by its authority. 
It is a question of expediency how extensive 

the system of instruction, imperative upon its 
4* 



authorized instructors should be ; but from the 
very nature of the case, the Church has authority 
to impose such a system ; and that system is 
binding upon the consciences of all, so far as it 
is supported by revelation. It binds absolutely 
the consciences and actions of its appointed in- 
structors ; for, acting under its authority and im- 
plied approval, they cannot honestly, and with a 
good conscience, teach that for truth which it 
pronounces to be false, nor pronounce that to be 
false which it declares to be true. While they 
are recognized as teachers authorized by the 
Church, their instructions carry with them the 
authority of the Church ; and thus the Church, 
by their dishonesty, may be made the abettor of 
error and heresy. If any one cannot conscien- 
ciously teach what the Church directs, let him lay 
down his commission, as an authorized instructor, 
and claim no higher authority for his opinions, 
than his own private judgment, and the force of 
reason and evidence. 

The Church has also authority to define the 
manner in which the truth shall be taught, and 
the modes in which it shall be exhibited ; and its 
decisions have authority, except they are plainly 
repugnant to the word of God. It may decree 
such rites and ceremonies as it deems necessary 
to the furtherance of religious instruction and de- 
votion ; but it may omit nothing which the Head 
of the Church has expressly enjoined, nor decree 



any thing which leads to a breach of his com- 
mands. Within these limits it is the duty of 
every one to observe the ceremonies decreed by 
the Church. If any one is displeased with them, 
if he thinks them inexpedient or unnecessary, so 
long as it is not a sin against God to observe them, 
let him do it with proper submission to rightful 
authority ; and use all lawful endeavours to have 
them changed. Disobedience to the authority of 
the Church, in matters involving questions of ex- 
pediency only, is a moral offence ; for it tends to 
introduce anarchy, confusion, and strife, where 
God has commanded that peace should especial- 
ly reign. No one can, therefore, on his own pri- 
vate judgment, introduce new ceremonies, or 
omit what the Church has commanded, without 
resisting an authority whose acts are confirmed 
in heaven ; an authority which has a right to 
obedience in all things, where obedience to it 
would not be disobedience to God.* 

* And here it may be added, that there is a kind of common law 
of the Church, in relation to rites and ceremonies, which the indi- 
vidual clergyman ought not to depart from. Long continued custom 
supplies, in some degree, the place of positive enactments ; and can 
rarely be changed by an individual without justly giving offence. 
Still stronger is the objection to the introduction of new ceremonies, 
if they become, in any way, suggestive of ideas which are contrary 
to the teachings of the Church. Error may be as successfully 
taught by symbols and gestures addressed to the eye, as by sophis- 
try addressed to the ear; and the corruption of the fancy, through 
the senses, is the most effectual preparation for the corruption of the 
understanding. 



84 



But the Church is not infallible. Though it 
has a grant of authority for government, it ha9 
no promise that its decisions should always be 
right. In that respect, it is on a par with civil 
government ; for both are administered by fallible 
men. Those in authority in the Church may 
err, and have erred, through weakness and igno- 
rance ; they may, and have erred, through wick- 
edness and corruption. The promise of Christ 
to his Apostles : " Lo, I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the w r orld," must be interpreted 
like all the promises of Scripture, to imply con- 
ditions of faithfulness on their part. The fact 
contradicts the interpretation which makes the 
promise absolute and unconditional. The minis- 
try of the Apostolic succession have erred, both 
individually, and collectively ; and yet, through 
the providence of God, the w T hole Church has 
never been so involved in error, as to fall away 
entirely from the faith. And this is, doubtless, 
the fulfilment of the promise. The truth has 
never wanted faithful witnesses ; and though 
different national Churches have greatly erred, 
and corrupted themselves, yet of the Church uni- 
versal, we may say, that the gates of hell have 
not prevailed against it. But as the Church has 
erred, and may err, what is the duty of its mem- 
bers, when they are convinced that the particular 
branch of the Church, to which they owed alle- 
giance, has departed from the faith, and who is 



85 



to be the judge of such departure? Evidently 
not the Church itself ; for its own judgment would 
only confirm its own error. The appeal is to 
God, the only infallible judge ; and when a man 
is thoroughly convinced that the Church requires 
him to believe what is erroneous, or to do what 
God has forbidden, his only resort is, to take upon 
himself the responsibility of an appeal to the In- 
fallible Judge, and assert, and maintain the prin- 
ciple, " We ought to obey God, rather than 
men." His individual judgment may be wrong, 
and then he incurs a double punishment, the 
censure of the Church, and the displeasure of his 
Maker ; but if it be right, though he may be sub- 
jected to censure, and even excommunication, 
yet will his faith and obedience towards God be 
amply rewarded, when every man shall receive 
according to his deeds. But, although in such 
cases it is the manifest duty of a man to obey God, 
rather than the Church, yet disobedience is not of 
itself rebellion. He may and ought, yet to sub- 
mit to the Church in all things, except that 
wherein obedience to man, is disobedience to 
God. A single error, or a single act of tyranny, 
or, indeed, many errors and acts of tyranny, do 
not nullify the grant of the power of government 
given to the Church ; nor give to the aggrieved 
individuals, the right to set up a separate organi- 
zation. Let them submit meekly, yet firmly, to 
the consequences of their fidelity to God; and 



36 

labor earnestly to bring those in authority in the 
Church, to a better mind. It is no light thing to 
disturb the peace of Christ's kingdom on earth ; 
to create schisms and divisions about mere mat- 
ters of expediency. Not till the errors and cor- 
ruptions of any branch of the Church of Christ 
has reached that point where they defeat the more 
important ends for which the Church was insti- 
tuted, have we reason to think that its grant of 
authority is revoked, and its just decisions no 
longer confirmed in heaven. But as in civil go- 
vernment there is, in the last resort, a right of 
revolution, so, we doubt not, the same right ex- 
ists in the Church. When the Church in any 
country assumes an authority never delegated by 
God to fallible men; when it becomes destructive 
of the ends for which it was instituted ; when it 
encourages vice and wickedness, instead of purity 
and holiness ; when it substitutes idolatry for the 
worship of God, and the traditions of men for the 
commandments of Christ, and answers all appeals 
to Scripture and reason with the sword and the 
faggot ; then it becomes the duty of men to throw 
off its authority ; and by a union with some 
purer branch of the Church Catholic, or a new 
organization based upon the fundamental law of 
the Church, secure the blessing and privileges 
which Christ has granted to its members. 

The right of revolution in the state can only 
be lawfullv resorted to when all other expedients 



have failed, and always devolves a heavy respon- 
sibility on those who assert it. So, also, in the 
Church ; those who take upon themselves the 
exercise of this right, may be chargeable with the 
evils of the schism which ensues, if they have 
rashly, and without the plea of dire necessity, 
betaken themselves to this last resort of the op- 
pressed. 

It has been sometimes asserted, that no such 
necessity could at any time exist, because God 
in his providence would protect his Church from 
the error, corruption, and tyranny, which would 
justify resistance to its authority. But God has 
no where in his Word promised any such security. 
On the other hand, He has told us of the extreme 
wickedness of the human heart ; He has given us 
intimations of a great apostacy, which should take 
place in the Church itself ; and only told us for 
our encouragement, in times of trial and of gloom, 
that His truth should not fail, and His Church 
survive all the assaults of enemies from without, 
and all the evils of corruption within. 

Through many fiery trials has it already 
passed, and it has been purified and regenerated 
by that very resistance to its usurpations and ty- 
ranny, so loudly condemned by those who insist 
on its claims to unquestioning obedience. It was 
thus only, that the Church of England was ena- 
bled to throw off the usurped authority of the 
Roman Pontiff, and reform the errors and super- 



88 



stitions which, through long ages of corruption 
and misrule, had been incorporated in every part 
of her system. 

It was thus that, in Continental Europe, the 
Reformers of the Sixteenth Century protested 
against the tyranny and the corruptions of the 
Church of Rome ; and had not that corrupt 
Church been pledged to its errors, by its own 
cherished fiction of infallibility, a reformation, 
even in it, might have been effected. Without 
open resistance to its authority, a reformation in 
religion could never have been brought about ; 
and the human mind had still worn its fetters, 
and grovelled in ignorance and superstition. 

It would seem, therefore, to be the design of 
God, that even his Church should in part be kept 
pure, through the instrumentality of men, assert- 
ing boldly, and in the fear of God, those private 
and inalienable rights which He has given to no 
human government the authority to take away. 
This indulgence to human liberty may seem to 
us the cause of much disorder, and, in our short- 
sightedness and ignorance, we may imagine that 
it would be much better were it more completely 
restrained. But we ought to remember that man 
has fallen and is sinful, and that the world is full 
of disorder, in consequence of his sins ; and 
though we may form fanciful theories, and in our 
folly and self-conceit, imagine that we could de- 
vise a better system of government than the one 



S9 



now existing ; yet practically we must act in ac- 
cordance with that which God has ordained ; and 
if we do our duty in the circumstances of our 
actual condition, we maybe assured that we shall 
not lose our reward. Of one thing, at least, we 
may be assured ; God ruleth among the nations, 
and whatever evils may happen to his Church, 
amidst all the disorders we behold, it will still 
perform its appointed work, and the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against iu 



A DISCOURSE 

ON THE 

CONNECTION BETWEEN PRACTICAL PIETY 

AND 

SOUND DOCTRINE. 



DISCOURSE. 



THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRACTICAL 
PIETY AND SOUND DOCTRINE. 

John viii. 17. 

" If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doc- 
trine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." 

The words of the text were addressed to some 
who marvelled at the wisdom of our Lord's 
teachings, and inquired, " how knoweth this man 
letters, having never learned." Disclaiming all 
pretension to superior human wisdom, he told 
them, that the doctrine he taught was from God, 
and that it required only a sincere and candid mind? 
really desirous to do what God has commanded ; 
and, therefore, looking humbly for every intima- 
tion of his will, to enable them to judge whether 
the doctrine he taught was from God, or whether 
it was only the result of human learning. 

The text, though applied to a particular case, 
expresses, notwithstanding, a general truth, which 
may be thus enunciated ; the sincere endeavor 
to do the will of God, is a necessary preparation 
for the reception and understanding of the truth. 



94 



It is in this way that practical and doctrinal reli- 
gion are connected together ; the practical, as the 
preparation for the reception of the doctrinal, and 
the doctrinal, as the basis for the practical. The 
desire to do the will of God may precede the ac- 
tual performance of it, and thus lead to an earnest 
endeavour to learn those doctrines of religion on 
which religious practice depends. It will be ad- 
mitted, however, that the doctrine of a Supreme 
Being, the Creator and Governor of all things, 
must be received and understood, before there 
can be any effort, or intelligent desire to do his 
will. But with the first effort to do His will, 
must be joined the earnest desire to know His 
will, and understand more fully His character 
and attributes. If then, we leave out of the ac- 
count those ideas of God, which seem to be the 
first results of thought and reflection in every 
sound mind, we may say, that practical religion 
takes the lead in the formation of a just religious 
character ; and this agrees with what the Scrip- 
ture elsewhere teaches, " The fear of the Lord is 
the beginning of wisdom."* But though the fear 
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it is not 
the end, the completion of it. It is only the ne- 
cessary preparation for the reception of religious 
truth, and for progression in religious knowledge ; 
and hence it is added, " The knowledge of the 
Holy is understanding." 

* Prov. i. 7. 



Practical and doctrinal religion cannot be 
separated from each other, without putting asun- 
der what God has joined together; and every 
system of education, or instruction, which does 
not embrace both, is defective, and will fail of its 
desired effect. To cultivate the heart without 
reference to the understanding ; to make religion 
consist in feeling and action alone, with little care 
as to the ground of the feeling, or the principle on 
which the action is based, is to encourage enthu- 
siasm and fanaticism, and subject the Church to 
all the evils of an ill-regulated zeal. To the indi- 
vidual it gives impulse without direction, activ- 
ity without intelligent motive ; so that, with the 
best intentions, the ends accomplished may be 
such as he least desires : even as the strong ship, 
when ignorance guides the helm, and presump- 
tion spreads the sails, is borne onward to destruc- 
tion by the favoring gale, which might have car- 
ried it in safety to its destined port. 

Still more futile is the attempt to inculcate 
religious knowledge without practical piety. To 
cultivate the understanding to the neglect of the 
heart, to make religion a matter of the intellect 
alone, without feeling and without action ; is to 
make the Gospel as unproductive of good as a 
system of mere speculative philosophy; to make 
the Church ihe depository of a cold formalism, or a 
barren orthodox}' ; useful only to conve} r to future 
times the truths which, in a better age, may be- 



96 



come effectual in the salvation of men. To the 
individual it gives direction without impulse, in- 
telligence without activity, wisdom without the 
disposition to apply it. Religious knowledge 
without practical piety, can be productive of no 
proper religious action ; and, to apply the figure 
before used, is like a well-built ship, manned with 
skilful mariners, each at his proper post, but no 
breezes blow, and for want of motive power it 
lies still, and rots, and perishes, far from the wish- 
ed-for port, amidst the wide waste of waters. 

But we have supposed almost an absurdity ; 
for true knowledge of religious doctrine rarely 
exists without practical piety. The mind may 
indeed perceive the truths of Christianity, or 
rather the consistency and congruity of its system 
of doctrine, after the same manner that it per- 
ceives the consistency and congruity of a well- 
told tale of fiction ; but this can hardly be termed 
knowlege, for knowledge implies a conviction of 
the truth of what we know ; and an earnest con- 
viction of the truths of Christianity will not fail 
to put a man upon the serious endeavor to do the 
will of God. A man may have a correct specula- 
tive notion of the truths of religion ; he may be 
able to explain and illustrate them ; he may skil- 
fully apply the rules of logic to them, and suc- 
cessfully defend them against the assaults of 
adversaries ; and yet they may not be properly 
the subjects of knowledge to him, any more than 



9? 



the fanciful creations of the imagination, or the 
unsubstantial visions of a dream. 

But he who would attempt to understand 
the doctrines of religion, without the sincere pur- 
pose of beginning the practice of it, will be very 
liable to run into extravagance and error. We 
do nothing without motive. We examine no sys- 
tem of belief without some object in view. If the 
motive for the search for religious knowledge be 
the single desire to learn the will of God, in order 
that we may regulate our lives by it, there is no- 
thing in the way of a candid and fair examination 
of the Scriptures. But if this motive be wanting, 
there must be some other motive present to the 
mind, which will have an influence on its inves- 
tigations. The motive may be, either the fear of 
embracing an unpopular doctrine, the desire of 
notoriety, the promptings of interest, the dread of 
finding that true which condemns the practice, or 
the pride which prompts to sustain an opinion 
hastily uttered, or to maintain the peculiarities of 
a sect or party, or to secure victory in an argu- 
ment. In short, every passion, whim, and ca- 
price, may have an influence over a mind not under 
the control of practical religion. And shall we 
wonder at the vast variety of religious opinions 
put forth and received in the world, when so va- 
rious are the interests, the passions, and the 
caprices of men ? Even among those who are 

not regardless of the claims of practical religion, 
5 



there is so much imperfection of understanding, 
and such a mingling of baser motives with that 
which should govern their search after religious 
knowledge, that we cannot wonder at the wide 
differences of doctrine received in the Christian 
Church. 

The doctrines of religion on which the greater 
part of our religious practice is founded, are ex- 
ceedingly simple, and within the reach of the 
most common understanding ; so that there can 
be no excuse for those who do not begin to regu- 
late their conduct by the will of God. But as we 
advance to higher truths, we find difficulties to 
overcome ; and care, and diligence, and candor, 
are requisite to arrive at the truth : and in this 
way the truths of religion become a means for the 
proper trial and discipline of the understanding, 
while they also call into exercise the best feelings 
of the heart. The first step in the advance in 
religious knowledge, is to begin the practice of 
what we already know ; to give up the heart with 
all its affections to God ; to yield our will to His, 
and with singleness of purpose, endeavor to fol- 
low every intimation of His will, as our single and 
paramount duty. 

The principle laid down in the text, that earn- 
est practical piety is the preparation for a cor- 
rect knowledge of Christian doctrine, may be re- 
garded also in the light of a promise, wherein the 
knowledge of religious truth is made the reward 



99 



of diligent obedience to the commandments of 
God ; not only in the way of the natural effect of 
the principle of obedience, on our inquiries after 
truth, but by supernatural means ; by the gracious 
influence of the Holy Ghost on the mind, accord- 
ing to the merciful promise of our Saviour, to 
send to his disciples the Holy Spirit, to lead them 
into all truth. 

We will consider the text in these two as- 
pects ; first, the knowledge of the truth, as the 
natural conseauence of doin^f the will of God ; 

x a 

and secondly, the same knowledge, as the gracious 
reward of obedience, through the enlightening in- 
fluences of the Holy Ghost. 

When we speak of the natural consequence 
of doing the will of God, we mean the effect of a 
law which God has established, by which certain 
favorable results will follow obedience, in virtue 
of the nature he has given us ; and in this sense, 
these results are as much a reward, as if brought 
about through the ministry of an angel from hea- 
ven ; for natural consequences are but the estab- 
lished rule of God's government over us. They 
are not the less His act, because he acts con- 
tinually, and uniformly. 

Let us then look into the law which God has 
established, whereby a knowledge of religious 
truth is made the reward of practical piety. 

1. Doing the will of God, implies an earnest 
desire to know his will, and this will lead to a dili- 



1 00 

gent search for truth. With that degree of the 
knowledge of religious truth which becomes the 
first basis of duty, is coupled the knowledge that 
there is much more to be known ; nay, it becomes 
a religions duty to increase in knowledge ; so that 
the diligent search after the truth is, of itself, a 
fulfilling of the will of God. To this end, the 
Scriptures are full of directions to seek after 
wisdom ; to " grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
of God." But even aside from these precepts, 
he who has a sincere purpose to do the will of 
God, will feel a desire also to know all His will, 
lest in ignorance of his duty, he may sin by neg- 
lecting it ; or sin by mistaking that for his duty 
which is not ; well knowing that God will hold 
him accountable for all the knowledge which he 
has it in his power to obtain. With such motives 
for knowing the truth, his search will be diligent 
and constant. And of how much diligence will 
effect, we see daily examples in other pursuits. 
What stores of knowledge, what wonderful works 
of art, what immense masses of wealth, are the 
results of diligence, applied constantly to a single 
object of pursuit. It is wonderful what diligent 
attention to one object, for but a single hour in 
the daj T , will effect. The diligence of the earnest 
Christian in the search for truth, can effect much, 
though but here and there a fragment of time can 
be snatched from the daily cares which press 
upon him. But it is not diligence alone, but 



101 



diligence properly directed, which is most ef- 
fectual. 

Diligence misapplied, or directed by improper 
motives, may only confirm the prejudices of a 
false education, and establish the mind in error, 
instead of truth. But an earnest endeavor to do 
the will of God, is the most effectual security 
against this, for its direct tendency is to free the 
mind from prejudice. 

Whatever may have been the conclusions of 
partial ignorance, they will not be tenaciously 
held to by one, whose single desire is to do the 
will of God. Each new light which comes to 
him from the word of God, will be joyfully re- 
ceived, and all claims to knowledge and wisdom 
from other sources, will receive due attention ; 
and, though he will weigh well the arguments 
which overthrow a cherished opinion, or modify 
a favorite principle, before he yields to them ; 
yet his mind is open to conviction, and every 
error is abandoned as soon as detected, and every 
duty conscientiously discharged as soon as under- 
stood. As it is for practical purposes only, that 
he is most desirous of knowing the truth, he can 
have no present interest to pass by or reject 
the evidence which establishes it. 

2. The earnest endeavour to do the wall of 
God, sets the mind free from the control of pas- 
sion in its search for truth. Men easily believe 
what will justify their unlawful passions, or pro- 



102 

mote their present interests, or excuse their evil 
practices. This alone is the source of a great 
part of the religious error in the world. A system 
of doctrine which allows the indulgence of the 
evil dispositions of the heart, will never want 
believers. Anger, revenge, sensuality, and avar- 
ice, are powerful pleaders to make the worse ap- 
pear the better reason. They oft times control 
the" action of the understanding, leading it into 
the grossest'errors ;~and\vhen the condemnation 
in the Gospel is too plain to be misunderstood, 
they evade its application, by dignifying- vices 
with the names of virtues. Thus, avarice be- 
comes prudence ; dishonesty, shrewdness ; bigot- 
ry, zeal for the truth ; and indifference to the 
truth, charity. It is thus that men come to love 
darkness, rather than light, because their deeds 
are evil. 

But he whose chief motive is the desire to do 
the will of God, feels the full force of the obli- 
gation to mortify and subdue his evil passions, 
and keep them in subjection. He has no fear of 
the light, for he steadfastly resolves, in the 
strength of God, to forsake every sin, and con- 
form his life to whatever he may learn out of 
Holy Scripture. " He that doeth truth," saj^s our 
Lord, " cometh to the light, that his deeds may 
be made manifest that they are wrought in God."* 
It is thus by coming fearlessly to the light, — by 

* John iii. 21. 



103 



learning as much as he can of what God has re- 
vealed, and meditating upon it ; that the earnest, 
practical Christian, increases in knowledge, and 
is enabled to discern, among all the doctrines put 
forth in the world, which are of God, and which 
are the inventions of men. 

3. The earnest endeavor to do the will of 
God is a safeguard against that pride of opinion 
which is the fruitful source of so much contro- 
versy and error. An opinion has been entertain- 
ed, or a doctrine believed and published, which 
is not in accordance with the truth, and it is only 
by a victory over pride that it can be abandoned 
or retracted. It is on this account that argu- 
ments are rejected, and evidence passed lightly 
by without examination, when it is foreseen, that 
should they prove of weight, a cherished system 
must be abandoned, and an error acknowledged. 
It is this pride of knowledge which binds men so 
closely to the sects and parties with w r hich they 
have ranked themselves ; it is this which causes 
them to reject, without examination, the reasonings 
of an opponent, and bend the plain sense of Scrip- 
ture to make it support their erroneous systems. 

But with an earnest desire to do the will of 
God, this pride of opinion is overcome. Humili- 
ty is the characteristic of a mind which seeks 
only to know its duty. The earnest, practical 
Christian, can never feel a desire to maintain an 
opinion which, on examination, may be found re- 



pugnant to the word of God. He will be willing 
to learn from an adversary, willing to learn from 
any one ; for past experience has taught him to 
distrust his own judgment ; and as he has no 
desire to be esteemed wiser than others, he is 
prepared to receive the truth from those who are 
wiser, and more learned than himself. He re- 
ceives the doctrines of religion with all I he con- 
fiding trust of a little child, having no present 
interest to be in the wrong, and well assured that 
truth will in the end prevail, though it may for a 
while be disregarded and despised. 

There can be no more successful means of 
arriving at a knowledge of the truth, than the 
diligent application of a teachable spirit, free 
from prejudice, from the bias of passion, and 
the pride of opinion. It is the law of our nature 
in regard to the attainment of all kinds of know- 
ledge, and is the very temper which an earnest 
endeavor to do the will of God produces in the 
seeker after religious truth. 

But it is not in unassisted human nature, to 
maintain, at all times, such a spirit and temper. 
It is not in the power of man unaided, to prevent 
that mixing of motives, and that bias of pas- 
sion, which are such fruitful sources of error. 
The earnest desire to do the will of God, may 
not result in doing that will perfectly ; for in the 
weakness of our nature, it may not always be 
operative in our minds. Besides, the human un- 



105 



derstanding has been darkened by the fall, and 
may not be able to perceive the truth as it is in 
the Gospel, however sincere may be the desire 
of knowing it. ' But for that which unaided hu- 
man nature could not effect, God, through Christ, 
has provided an aid beyond nature ; the enlight- 
ening influences of the Holy Ghost. 

Those influences may be considered the su- 
pernatural rewards of that earnest endeavor to 
do the will of God, which in the text has the 
promise of arriving at the knowledge of his doc- 
trine. The sincere desire to do the will of God, 
cannot but produce earnest prayer for divine as- 
sistance and direction, and the enlightening influ- 
ences of the Holy Spirit are promised in answer 
to that prayer: for we are assured, " that God is 
more ready to give his Holy Spirit to those who 
ask, than parents are to give good gifts unto 
their child ren."* In some sense the influences of 
the Holy Spirit are felt by all ; for it is his office 
" to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, 
and of judgment ;"f and thus he is felt in the 
consciences of all men. But as the Spirit of 
Truth guiding and enlightening the understand- 
ing, he reveals himself only to those who dili- 
gently search for truth, in sincere endeavors to 
learn and do the will of God. And so our blessed 
Lord promised to send to his disciples after his 
departure, the " Spirit of Truth, whom the world 

* Luke xi. 13. t John xvi. 8. 



cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
knoweth him." # 

Shall we wonder then, that practical piety is 
so closely connected with sound doctrine, when 
not only the latter is the natural result of the for- 
mer, but the reward also. The union of the two 
is the perfection of the Christian character. Do- 
ing the will of God prepares the mind for the 
reception of religious knowledge, and increase in 
religious knowledge gives new fervor to practical 
piety. The Holy Spirit renews the heart, and at 
the same time enlightens the understanding; and 
thus by the reciprocal action of the mind and heart 
upon each other, the Christian grows in grace, 
and in the knowledge of God, and is made con- 
tinually more meet for Heaven. That which thus 
tends to the perfection of the individual Christian, 
will doubless have a like effect upon the whole 
body of Christians ; and hence we may conclude, 
that the doctrinal purity of the Church will be 
best promoted by the cultivation of practical 
piety. Angry controversy has no tendency to 
bring the parties nearer the truth, but rather, by 
the force of opposition, to drive them farther from 
it. The spirit of truth, sent to guide the humble 
practical Christian into all truth, flees the arena 
of disputation, where the combatants, losing sight 
of the great doctrines of the faith, contend about 
words and trifles. 

* John xlv. 17. 



J 07 



As we shall find the individual, who avoids 
controversy and applies himself to the practical 
duties of the Christian life, with an earnest desire 
to know and do the will of God, best grounded in 
the great doctrines of the Gospel ; so shall we 
find that Church, where practical piety is culti- 
vated, most free from the extremes of error and 
ignorance, and capable of exerting a happy reli- 
gious influence on the world without. 

It is by the effect of practical piety upon the 
mind, aided by the enlightening influences of the 
Holy Spirit, that Christians in humble life, with 
no advantages for the acquisition of knowledge, 
have been enabled to make such progress in the 
knowledge of Christian doctrine, as to surprise all 
who knew them. The Word of God alone is a 
treasure-house of knowledge to the humble prac- 
tical Christian, while he confines his studies to 
that which may be useful in guiding his life, and 
animating his devotions; but to him, who with 
curious e} r e scans its pages, to find support for his 
prejudices, or arguments for his fanciful theories, 
it soon presents a mass of inexplicable confusion, 
from which proofs can be drawn for the support 
of every error, and the confirmation of every folly, 
of which it may enter into the heart of man to 
conceive. 

There is no sure guide save one, to the inter- 
pretation of Scripture ; and the humble, teacha- 
ble Christian alone has the promise of that guide, 



for of him it is said, " The meek will He guide 
in judgment, and the meek will He teach his 
way."* But of the insincere, the curious, and the 
proud, it is said that the " Word of the Lord is 
to them line upon line, precept upon precept, 
here a little and there a little, that they might go, 
and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, 
and taken."! Let us, then, cultivate practical 
piety, as the best means of attaining a knowledge 
of religious truth, assured that both by a law of out- 
nature, and by the promised aid of God's Holy 
Spirit, it is the most effectual way of becoming 
wise unto salvation, and learned in the great sys- 
tem of revealed truth. 

* Ps. xxv. 0. t Isaiah xxviii. 13. 



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and brings out such a noble moral throughout — all appear to us to place this work on so 
high an elevation, t hat we should not find it easy to point to any work of fiction character- 
ized by so great a combination of excellencies. Some of the scenes appear to us, not 
inferior in power to the very best of Walter Scott. The discovery by Margaret of 
Wheeler's wickedness ; the escape of Viliiers and Bentley from the destruction meditated 
nyPearce; the attack of the mob cn the inn, and its defence by Viliiers; the death of 
Wheeler; the recovery of the lost child by Viliiers, and his repentance ; have been, we 
think, very rarely equalled. Of tiie principles of the work as an expression of Church 
principles, we cannot speak too highly. The comprehensiveness and depth of its views — 
the noble examples which it presents; the singular judgment with which it discriminates 
true Catholicism from Romanism ; and the advice which it administers to some persona 
who have verged towards ths Church of Rome ; all render this work an invaluable 
resource to those who are attached to the Church, on the highest and purest principles." — 
English Review. 

"There are two words in our language the 'bans' of whose marriage we would 
solemnly 'forbid.' 'Religious' and 'novel' are not merely paradoxical but directly 
untagonisiieal ; and religious novels., and novelties in religion, are alike objects to which 
we always erive a wide beet':!. There is no general rule, however, without its exception , 
and as the Roman Gate could give character and respectability to the lowest office in the 
State, by assuming its duties, so even the religious novel maybe raised from its de-«p 
degradation by the combined energies of a powerful intellect, a reSned taste, an Anglo- 
Saxon common sense, a chastened yet glowing imagination, a keen yet polished irony, a 
profound yet transparent philosophy, a quiet yet ardent love for the Church, and a calm 
Vet devoted piety.' Aii these have u nited to "give character to 'Hawkstone,' which haa 
ieached a third edition in England, and is soon, we are informed, to be republished in 
this country. Jt is an anonymous publication, but, unless there be two minds of precisely 
the same character and calibre, we cannot be mistaken when we claim for it the paternity 
of the learned and accomplished author of 'Christian Morals' and 'Christian Politics/ H 
—Charleston Gospel Messi nger 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford 6? Swords 



CHURCH LESSONS. 



PROPER LESSONS, 

FOR THE 

SUNDAYS ANL HOLIDAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 
EDITED BY THE REV. DS. WAINWRIGHT. 
Handsome ISmo, 

" Stanford <fc Swords have published a most beautiful copy of the Lessons, in a 
clear, legibla type, and convenient size, and elegantly bound and finished. It is a book 
which would make a becoming and exquisite present at tiie approaching festival season ; 
while for those who buy for personal use, the beginning of the Christian Year is an 
appropriate time for commencing a careful and faithful perusal of those portions of Scrip- 
ture, selected by the Church for the illustration of her doctrines, precepts, and history, 
and for the spiritual instruction of her members. Wherever there is a Prayer Cook, 
there should be a copy of the Lessons." — Protestant Churchman. 

"It is a beautiful specimen of typography, printed on glossy paper, in ink of the 
deepest jet, and is bound in every sort of style to please the eye, and the divers tastes of 
the purchaser. Jtis also put up in cheaper shape, for general use. The * ublication of 
this companion to the Book of Common Prayer, in a handsome style, has long been a 
desideratum, which could not be more adequately supplied than Messrs. S. & S have 
done it. The inconvenience of having to turn to the calendar to find the proper lessons 
of the day, and then turn to the Bible to find them, has long been felt, and that inconvo 
nience is now removed, and a valuable aid been furnished to the orderly performance 
of divine worship. Often the voice of the minister is too low to be distinctly heard, 
all over the church, while reading the lessons, and it is an advantage, under such a cir- 
cumstance, to have them before the hearer, to aid him in the due understanding of that 
j>urt of divine service, as it proceeds : and under all circumstances it is a convenience. 
We trust that the use of the beautiful and valuable book before us may come into univer- 
sal use throughout the Church for wkich it was so carefully and successfully prepared."— 
<V. Y. Express. 

a When we say that this handsomely printed volume is edited by the Rev. Dr. Wain- 
wright, we give all needful assurance that the work is carefully, as well as appropriately, 
done. Then as to the work itself, as a companion to the Prayer Book, at church or at 
borne, it is most appropriate and convenient — for in bulk smaller than that of the Bible, 
it furnishes in clear, large type, the Bible Lessons for *»ach Sunday and holiday." — Courier. 

"All must be acquainted with the usefulness of such a book as this, affording, as it 
does, a convenient method for reading the portion of Scripture appointed in the calendar 
for Sundays and Holidays. We need, therefore, but speak of the manner in which the 
publishers have executed this important work. The type is sufficiently large and beau- 
tifully clear, the page broad and inviting, and the who'e arrangement simple and correct, 
The binding varies in different editions; in the one before us^it is rich and elegant. It 
can be had in a plainer and cheaper style by those who prefer such. We were struck 
on taking- up the volume with the amount of Scripture which the Church reads in the 
yearly course of her services. May this volume aid in making her members more con- 
stant, more faithful, and more devout students of the Holy Word." — Calendar. 

"Few books are issued from the American press in a better style than this. This 
volume of Proper Lessons is printed with large, clear type, on fins paper; and, what is 
of some importance, it is substantially and beautifully bound. It is very desirable that 
the members of our congregations should have the Lessons at hand during divine service, 
in order to look them over, as l hey are read by the officiating minister. We are there- 
fore glad to see a new edition of the Lessons, as it will, we trust, serve to promote this 
very desirable practice." — Christian Witness. 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford % Swords 



STEPS TO THE ALTAR; 

A MANUAL OF DEVOTIONS AND MEDITATIONS 



FOll THE 



BLESSED EUCHARIST. 



COMPILED BV 



A PARISH PRIEST. 
One Volume- ISwo. 31c. 

"This is another manual republished from an English work under the direction of a 
Presbyter of New- York, and the devout spirit within is clothed in a most attractive form. 
We hail it as a happy omen that the demand for such books should, as we are sure it will, 
justify their publication. Of this work we need only say as sufficient commendation, what 
is said in the prefatory notice. 'The works of Bishops A-ndrewes, Gosin, Ken, and Wil- 
son, may be mentioned as chief sources from which matter has been drawn.' Auy thing' 
more we might have desired to say is rendered needless by the following from a corres- 
pondent. 

" 'The work, with the above title., is deserving of patient, attentive, earnest study. It 
is one of a class of books much needed at the present time, and the more we have of 
them the better for the Church at large. It is not our intention to go much into detail 
with this work, but we shall point at a few of its excellencies and merits. It contains, for 
instance, devotions for the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 
Saturday of the week before Communion, devotions also at the Celebration itself an J 
special devotions for the Monday and Tuesday after communing. Again, there is a prayei 
for those who are not able to communicate. Then there are Prayers for Ko!y Seasons 
and select passages for Reading and Meditation from various authors, with which the 
pages close. A more simple arrangement could not have been selected, nor one agreeing 
better with the ceremony itself. The select passages are peculiarly beautiful, and when 
I state that such names as those of good old Bishop Wilson, of the saintly Beveridge, of 
the pious Brevint, of Taylor the eloquent and the learned, of Andrewes, of S. Bernard, of 
Dean Comber, of Q,uesnel, of Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, of our own excellent 
sound, and learned Bishop Pearson, etc., we shall be of but one mind in regard to ire 
utility and worth. To my own mind the beauty of the volume lies in its exceeding sim - 
plicif, its genuine excellency, its intrinsic value. As a manual, as a vade mecum it 
must take a high stand. This simple expression, from the author's notice, contains the 
germ of an excellent truth, and we would that all compilers, for similar purposes, wculd 
avail themselves of it. " The works of Bishops Andre wes, Cosin, Ken, and Wilson, may 
be mentioned as chief sources from which matter has been drawn. Great use has been 
made of Lake's Officium Eucharisticum, and a little has been derived from more ancient 
stores of devotion ;" and truly, if these stores were more often consulted, and especially 
the stores of our own Mother Church, wc should have a richer view of devotion, a greater 
treasury of sound and gospel truth. 

" ' We were attracted by the title of the volume. And it is truly what it purports to be 
May those steps guide many till they kneel around the sacred board, and may they be 
often fed! May they grow more spiritual, and like unto their Divine Lord ; and may this 
humble instrument, in the hands of the Almighty God, lead rnary unto righteousness, and 
into the way of saving duty.' " — Banner of the Cross. 

"This little book, the uses and objects of which are sufficientl}' indicated in the title, 
is printed in excellent style, and in a form wkich makes it especially convenient.— -North 
American ani Gazette. 



Taluable Works published by Stanford 4* Swords. 



CONFIRMATION. 





A MANUAL OF DEVOTIONS FOR CONFIRMATION 

AND 

J i r t dommtinion. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF " STEPS TO THE ALTAR." 
One handsome volume. l£??io. 31c. 

"This volume appears under the sanction of an able and faithful Pastor, who assures 
us that he has carefully examined it, making a very few alterations, and additions ; and 
that he deems it the very best work of the kind he has seen. A hasty perusal leads us to 
concur in this opinion. It differs from most books on Confirmation, in being- almost ex- 
clusively practical and devotional in its character, containing besides, two Addresses, 
Prayers, Meditations, and Q.uest:ons for self-examination for the week preceding, and the 
two days subsequent to, the reception of the Holy Rite. * * * The volume is 
neatly got up ; and the Publishers deserve the thanks of good Churchmen for issuing an- 
other manual of sound catholic — Hobart — teaching." — Churchman 

u The multiplication of books of devotion we regard as one of the best signs of the 
times in the Church. There is evidently an increased demand for such works as aid in 
the cultivation of personal religion. The title of the present publication sufficiently indi- 
cates its design and use. The Prayers and Meditations which it contains are compiled 
mostly from Bishop Wilson, which is a sufficient guarantee of their soundness and fervor. 
Some others are taken from various approved writers of our own Communion. We take 
pleasure in recommending it to our readers, and especially as a valuable preparatory 
manual for such as are about to receive Confirmation and the Holy Communion for the 
first time." — Calendar. 



Valuable Works, publMrd hi/ Stanford Sf Swords. 



MARK WILTON; 




OR, 



THE MERCHANT'S CLERK. 

BY THE 

REV. CHARLES B. TAYLER, 

AUTHOR OF " LADY MARY," " MARGARET," " RECORDS OF A GOOD MAX'S LIFE," ETC. 

One handsome volume. 12mo. 75c. 



<; An excellent book to place in the hands of young- men. Mr. Tayler is a good writer 
and a fine preacher. Devoted to the service of his Master, he strives both by his pen and 
tongue to guard the unwary, instruct the ignorant, direct the doubtful, reclaim the wan- 
derer, and guide the steps of all into the paths of peace. This volume teaches the ini 
portance of resisting sin, by showing the difficulties and sorrows which a compliance with 
its temptations involve. — Episcopal Recorder. 

" This volume, in the deep interest which its perusal excites, is not inferior to the au 
thor's ' Records of a Good Man's Life,' which, as every reader knows, is awarding to it 
very high praise. The pictures of individuals and families are so life-like, the various 
shades of character so finely and accurately drawn, that the reader's attention is rivetted 
from first to last. The narrative is autobiographical, and is written with such an air of 
candor, and interspersed with reflections so natural to the incidents, that it is really diffi 
cult to divest one's self of the impression thai it is truth and not fiction. In one respect 
we think ' Mark Wilton ' is even superior to the author's former productions — the four 
fold phase of character exhibited in the narrative is preserved with astonishing fidelity 
and cleames?. These are exemplified in the character of a family of high worldly integ- 
rity: of another, whoso whole domestic discipline is regulated by the elevated precepts 
of Christian principle; of a young man, a fellow clerk of Wilton's, remarkable for hi3 
decision and firmness of Christian character; and of Mark Wilton, easily seduced from 
virtue, lacking strength to resist example and vicious influences, often wandering far from 
rectitude, yet asrain impulsive for good when arrested in his downward path. The subor- 
dinate characters serve to make apparent these distinctions We would that the book 
w«re carefully read by all for whom it is especially designed — the clerks in a great city, 
- jV F. Commercial Advertiser *' 



Valuable Works, jmblished by Stanford Sr Swords. 



M ANT'S HAPPINESS OF THE BLESSED 

THE HAPPINESS OF THE BLESSED 

CONSIDERED AS TO 

THE PARTICULARS OF THEIR STATE ; 

THEIR' RECOGNITION OF EACH OTHER IN THAT STATE 

AND ITS DIFFERENCE OF DEGREES. 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

MUSINGS ON THE CHURCH 

AND HER SERVICES. 

BY RICHARD M ANT, D . D . , 

LORD BISHOP OF DOWN AND CONNOR. 

One volume. 12mo. 75c. 

" We would have this volume find its way into every Christian family where there is 
one person that can read. If scriptural truth and warm devotion can commend a book, 
this will not be neglected. 

" Bishop Mant as a poet is not duly appreciated. Whether this arises from a distaste 
for the Sonuet, or from an idea that he has merely imitated "Wordsworth, it is equally a 
mistake. His sonnets are generally carefully constructed, and seldom lacking in elevatiou 
of sentiment. They sometimes, it is true, are not so well compacted and pointed as the 
form requires, but this is owing to the didactic toue which many of their subjects neces- 
sitate. Above all they are full of the genuine Anglican feeling which Wordsworth often 
does not display. The reader of the* Musings' will, we think, feel that this series is 
more animated by a Church spirit than Wordsworth's." — Churc'iimcm. 

" Sound in doctrine, rich in thought, beautiful in style, and devotional in its character, 
this work ranks among the choicest specunens of English Theological literature. It has 
already become endeared to thousands of Christian Churchm 3 ,;', with whom, like ' Scenes 
in our Parish,' and the 1 Christian Year,' it is a household volume." — Calendar. 

" No Christian can read this volume without having his intelligent faith and hope, 
strengthened and confirmed. Whatever difference of opinion may exbt on points of ec- 
clesiastical policy, or even upon doctrines, such books as this form a point of attraction 
where the redeemed of every Christian creed can meet in peace and harmony, and sit 
together at the threshold of heav en to talk of their future union where sebts and parlies 
will be unknown. There is that in Bishop Maut's style which commands the reader's un- 
wearied interest." — Commercial. 



(WANTS HOR/E LITURGIC/E. 

BEING 

A GUIDE TO UNIFORMITY IX THE CELELRATION 
OF DIVINE SERVICE. 
BY THE RT. REV. RICHARD MANT, D. D. ( 

LORD CI SHOP OF DOWN AND CONNOR. 

WITH ADDITIONS, TO ADAPT IT TO THE AMERICAN CHURCH, 

BY THE REV. W. D. WILSON, M. A. 
One Volume. 12mo. 7oc. 

" We earnestly commend this volume to the attention of tie clergy 01 the Church, as 
a work the want of which has been long felt, particularly in this country. Bishop Mant 
has ably fulfilled the task imposed upon himself, and "the Notes and Additions of the 
American edinr are judicious and commendable. We trust that those who are just en- 
tering upon their sacred calling, will give heed to the counsels of this volume, that they 
may b^srin aright, and that the beautiful fabric of our liturgy, bequeathed by the nobfe 
army of martyrs and confessors, may present that beautv of uuiformity which they in- 
tended, uudisngured by the crude notions of those who would gild refined gold, or pain I 
the lily." 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford <5f Swords. 



THE HOLY COMMUNION. 



THE DEVOUT CHURCHMAN'S COMPANION, 

OR, 

A FAITHFUL GUIDE IN PRAYER. MEDITATION, 

A N D 

erije lUcqjlion of i\)t fjob ©tuljarist. 

(being bishop wilson's sacra privata," and Li introduction to 

THE LORD'S SUPPER.) 
EDITED BY THE 

REV. WM. H. ODENHEIMER, A. M. 

RECTOB OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA ; AUTHOR OF " YOUNG CHURciiMAN 
CATECHISED," " TRUE CATHOLIC NO ROMANIST," ETC. 

One volume. Royal 32mo. Fine Paper. 50c. 

" We know not in the English language, or any other, or any one book, (always ex- 
cepting the Holy Bible and the Prayer Book,) which, to the truly devout heart, is so rich 
in meditations and prayers. To all our readers, who are living- earnestly for the life to 
come, we commend this volume. The new and most convenient arrangement of the 
1 Sacra Privata ' and the ' Introduction,' by the American editor, is a manifest improve- 
ment; and as to their part of the execution, we have seen nothing from the publishers 
which has pleased us so well." — Church Review. 

" We are always glad to receive a work with Mr. Odenheimer's name on the title-page, 
whether as author or editor; for we are sure of finding something that has in view an 
immediate practical end, and is Avell fitted for its attainment. Few parochial clergymen 
have labored so much and so successfully, in this way. His M Young Churchman Cate- 
chised." and " The True Catholic no Romanist," are books singularly well adapted to 
ground the youmr in the rudiments of Christian doctrine ; and in this edition of the devo- 
tional works of Bishop Wilson, we see the same practical talent applied to the cultivation 
of the habits of the inward Christian life. As a manual of devotion for the use of private 
Christians, wc would recommend this edition of Bishop Wilson, in preference to aiiy other. 
It contains the Sacra Privata, the Communion Service, and the Family and Private 
Pray e rs." — Church m a v . 

"The reverend brother who has edited this excellent manual, is already well known 
to the Church by his concise but valuable treatises on the Origin and Compilation of the 
Prayer Book, The True Catholic no Romanist, Sec. These have shown how clearly he 
nnderstands and decidedly maintains the ground which our branch of the Church catholic 
holds : the present volume will serve to endear him to the lovers of prayer, and that most 
admirable exemplification of it, the saintly Bishop Wilson, of Sodor and Man. The Sacra 
Privata, the Introduction to the Lord's Supper, the Communion Service, and a collection 
«f Prayers, form the materials of this volume. We hesitate not to say, that if studied as 
it should be, and used as it oujht to be, it would do more than any other one thing to re- 
move dissension, promote concord and agreement, and unite in one mind and spirit the 
members of Christ's Church, who too often stand apart one from the other, and thus give 
occasion to the enemy to blaspheme. 1 He who has learned to pray as he ought, has found 
out the seciet of a holy life.'" — Youvg Churchman's Miscellany. 

" We can safety recommend a work so well and so favorably known."— rSouthern 
Churchman. 

" The merits of this work have been tested by its passing to another edition ; we caa 
only hope that the number of those for whom it is designed may be greatly increased 
through its more extended cii -.ulation." — Church Times. 



VaJuahir Works. published by Stanford $ Swor^ls. 



LADY MARY 




LADY MARY: 

OR, 

NOT OF THE WORLD. 

BY THE REV. C. B. TAYLER, 

AUTHOR OF M MARGARET," ETC. ETC. 

One handsome volume, 12mo. 75c. 

" Some of the reviewers have found fault with me for writing about persons in tne 
upper classes of society. I think it well to say that in " Margaret," and in the vo.umo 
ahieh is now offered to the public, I have purposely done so. I love to write for the 
lower and middling classes. * * * * But I am naturally, I ought almost say a close 
observer, and I have seen in the upper ranks of society much that is inconsistent with a 
Christian profession. They have also immortal souls, their situation is one of peculiar 
peril, and our blessed Lord has addressed some of his severest admonitions and most 
awful warnings to them. Their influence is great, their example of considerable impor- 
tance, their responsibility before God is proportionate. I have, therefore, endeavored 10 
write also for the noble and the rich; and to attack, with weapons which are not carnal 
but mighty through God, 'the strong holds of the adversary among the worldly and 
♦imong those who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.' " — Preface. 

44 We take great pleasure in calling attention to this most excellent volume, which miiEt 
meet with a wide circulation. The style i& beautifully simple, the narrative abounds 
with interesting incidents, and the whole is imbued with atone of the highest evangelical 
piety. The writer has a happy faculty of adapting himself to the comprehension of the 
young, at the same time that he instructs and entertains the old. it would make an 
appropriate present for the young, and may be the means of doing great good. Mr. 
Tayler, as far as wc have had opportunity to judge, is quite as interesting a writer as 
CharlotU; Elizabeth, and fur less bi-roted and prejudiced- Such volumes as these cannot 
be too widely spread." — Evening Post. 

" We are pleased to see a second American edition of this delightful volume, than which 
few fictions are more like real life and none can have a better effect upon the heart. The 
author has been eminently successful in this walk, sketching with a masterly pen both 
humble and more polished life. The fidelity with which the inconsistencies of Christians 
in the most favored worldly circumstances are portrayed in this volume cannot fail to 
have a salutary influence, whH 5 the narrative is of such an interest as to induce more than 
pno reading." — Commercial. 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford Sf Swords. 



HOBARTS STATE OF THE DEPARTED 

THE STATE OF THE DEPARTED. 

BY JOHN HENRY HOBART, D. D. 

BISHOP OE THE PROT. EPtS. CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF NEW-YORK. 

Fourth Edition. One Volume. 12mo. 50c. 

"This little volume, pp. W9, eontains an address delivered by Bishop Hobart at the 
*neral of Bishop Moore, of New-York, in 1816 : also, a 'Dissertation on the State of De 
parted Spirits, and the Descent of Christ into Hell;' written by Bishop Hobart, in conse 
quence of exceptions having been taken to his funeral address. The dissertation is 
published as last revised by the Right Reverend author. Those who wish to inform 
themselves upon this subject, will find in this book as good a treatise upon it as they will 
probably ever meet with." — Banner of the Cross. 

"The larger portion of this volume: is occupied by 'A Dissertation on the State of 
Departed Spirits, and the Descent of Christ into Hell" — in which that subject is discussed 
with much clearness of statement, and fulness and force of reasoning — presenting the 
whole argument on the tide adopted by the Bishop with an effect and in a compass not 
elsewhere, we believe, to be found in our language." — Southern Churchman. 

"Perhaps the best dissertation t)n the very important question as to the state of the 
departed, is this one of the lamented Bishop Hobart, in which the whole subject is 
thoroughly examined.'' — Providence Atlas. 

"The publishers of this valuable work have at last given us an edition in a style some- 
thing like what its merits demand. As it forms one of the volumes prescribed by the 
House of Bishops in the course of study for candidates for Holy Orders, it is quite super- 
fluous for us to commend it." — Young Churchman s Miscellany. 

"This work of the l ite Bishop Hobart, is published at a very seasonable time, when 
every doctrine of the Church is trailed in question. It was occasioned by the Bishop's 
sermon on the death of his predecessor, Bishop Moore of New-York, and is an unanswer- 
able defence of the doctrine of the intermediate state. Extracts are given as well from 
the writings of Dissenters as from those of the Anglican Church ; and the distinction 
between it and the Romish doctrine of purgatory is clearly pointed out. The present 
edition is beautifully got up, the paper excellent, and the type clear and good; and a9 
vhe work itself is used as a text book in the General Theological Seminary of the Church, 
we have no doubt the sale thereof will be even more rapid than it has been from its first 
ippearance, and speedily repay the firm who have issued it in so creditable a style." — 
National Press. 

WYATFS PARTING SPIRIT'S ADDRESS. 
THE PARTING SPIRIT'S ADDRESS TO IIIS MOTHER. 

BY REV. WM. EDWARD WYATT, D. D., 

HECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S PARISH, BALTIMORE. 

Fan th Edition. One Volume. ISmo. paper. 13c. 

* We regai J this as one of the most touching and beautiful things which we have ever 
equally sound and judicious, it is calculated to diffuse comfort through the mourn- 
ing home which has been be re it of some bright flower transplanted from this sterile car til 
to tfce Faradise of God." — Young Churchman's Miscellany. 

*' A fourth edition of this beautiful and tender little thing has been issued. Ever" 
patent whe has lost an engaging little child wil* read this admirable little tract w.i* 
Uvely interns', 5 ' — Albany Spectator 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford Swords. 



RECANTATION, 

Recantation, or, the Confessions of a Convert to Romanism 

A TALE OF DOMESTIC AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN IT ALT: 

EDITED BY 

REV. WM. INGRAHAM KIP. 
One handsome volume. \6mo. 63c. 



♦'This volume is a reprint of one published in London during 1 the last year. A friend 
p'aced it in the hands of the editor, because from his acquaintance with the scenes in 
«*hich the story is laid, and the opportunities he had enjoyed of gaining some knowledge 
of the tone of thought and feeling prevailing in Italian society, it was believed he might 
be able to decide on the justness of its claims to be taken as a faithful picture. To the 
fidelity of the autiior's description of places, the Editor can bear his unhesitating testimony. 
Almost every pare arrayed before him some scene associated with the pleasant hours ho 
spent in classic Italy. The stately palaces of fascinating Florence — the woody hill of 
Fiesole, where Milton mused and wrote — the peaceful valleys of 'leafy Vallambrosa' — 
the animated walks of the Caseins — the treasures of the Pitti Palace — the splendor of the 
Ducal Court — the beautiful scenery of luxuriant Tuscany — all, are called up again to 
memory by the allusions of this narrative. And mingled with these came less pleasing 
remembrances of superstitions such as are hero portrayed, and the surveillance of a 
religious despotism before which all trembled. The scoffing, infidel tone of some of these 
conversations is not imaginary. The Editor has himself heard it, when men uttered to 
him, a foreigner, what they would not dare to speak to their own countrymen, and even 
then declared their unbelief in the system under which they were forced to live, 
' in bondsmen's key, 
With bated breath and whispering fearfulness.' 
He feels, therefore, that the whole air of this work is truthful, and as such he would com- 
mend it to his young countrywomen." — Rev. W. I. Kip. 

" This is a work of fiction. The subject of it was an English lady who abandoned the 
faith of the Church of England, which was in the way of her marriage with an Italian 
nobleman ; the marriage was consummated ; she lived unhappily ; renounced her connec- 
tion with the Church of Rome, and returned to her former faith. It will be a popular 
book, no doubt." — Banner of the Cross. 

" The work has a peculiar interest, apart from its merits as a composition, and will bo 
read probably by both Roman Catholics and Protestants."— Express. 

" We have been more deeply interested in this neatly got up and well printed volume 
than we had any expectation of when we commenced. It relates to a topic of great interest 
at the present time, and will, we trust, be the means of leading parents to consider the 
dangerous fascinations of Romanism as presented by Jesuits and studied apologists, and 
how easily the ignorant are led to believe its lying absurdities. We beg to add our testi- 
mony to that of the accomplished editor of the volume in favor of its truthfulness and 
fairness. Indeed we might go much further and declare that from some slight acquaint- 
HB^e with Italian life and manners, we think the author has under stated the truth in 
regard to the practical infidelity of the better informed in the Romish Church. Such is 
eertainly our opinion. However that may be, we commend the volume to the thoughtful 
perusal of our readers." — Young Churchman 's Miscellany. 

"A seasonable and valuable work." — Evening Gazette. 

"This a beautifully printed volume. The title sufficiently explains the nature of tha 
work, anc the object for which it is designed." — Southern Churchman. 

"Of the theology of this work, our neutrality forbids us to speak; but of its literary 
merits we can and nicest speak favorably. It is a tale of domestic and religious life ia 
Italy, by one who has seen all that is here described. The allusions are redolent with 
classic sweets. The book is artistically got up by the trade." — N. Y. Sun. 

"We have not read this work, but some of our Protestant friends, who have read it. 
say that it is a charming book ; that it gives a more perfect insight into the interior of 
Italian society, than any book recently published; that *he story is well told and tlu 
interest is maintained to the last; and that the lovers f fiction rnd the lovers *>f truth will 
be alike gratified by its perusal.''— Loitierillc Jouruml 



Valuable Works published by Stanford <Sf Swords. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 

OF SOME OF 

THE MOST DISTINGUISHED JEWISH RABBIES, 

AND 

TRANSLATIONS OF PORTIONS OF THEIR COMMENTARIES, AND OTHER 
WORKS, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE INTRODUCTIONS, AND NOTES. 

BY SAMUEL H. TURNER D. D., 

PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LEARNING. ETC., IN THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

One Volume. 12mo. 75c. 

"The Rabbies who are the subjects of this volume, are Jarchi, Judah Hallevi, Aben 
Ezra, Maimonides, David Kimehi, Abarbanel, and Saadia the Gaou, names of great emi- 
nence and of frequent occurrence in the writings of modern divines. The brief account 
of them here given, accompanied with extracts from their works, will be found to be a 
valuable help for students of theology, and highly satisfactory to general readers, as af- 
fording important and instructive information not easily accessible. The want of such a 
work is so obvious that one is surprised that it was not sooner supplied. 

" We should welcome the volume if it were only for the object at which it directs and 
professedly aims. But it has an ulterior object, which is of vastly greater importance, 
and which is thus intimated in the author's preface: 

** ' A careful reading of Jewish books, and an uninterrupted study of the Hebrew Bible, 
in connection with the Greek Testament which embodies its spiritual development, fol 
lowed also by intelligent and earnest proclamations, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is the 
true Messiah picdicted by the Hebrew prophets, is quite a different thing from golden 
promises of natboai supremacy and aristocratic dignity to be enjoyed in the laud of 
Palestine. Some indolent Jews, whGse situation would probably be improved by almost 
uuy change, and some also of a better class, with warm imaginations and lively hopes 
may be temporarily influenced by such representations ; but on the more steady, indus- 
trious, and thoughtful portion of the Hebrew community, influences of a very different 
kind must be brought to bear. They must be made to feel that Judaism, from its very 
nature, could not have been intended for perpetuity, some of its judiciary, and most of 
its ceremonial requisitions being only compatible with a peculiar state of society; that 
the views ef the future which it developes have either already begun to open in the past 
advent of Messiah, and the progress and extent of his spiritual kingdom, or else are not 
to be hereafter expected, and consequently its prophecies are a failure ; and, that Chris- 
tianity, not indeed as practically exhibited by a great body of its professed advocates, but 
as really existing in the system of our Lord and Master, and showing itself in the heavenly 
character of its true believers, is that new covenant and law which God declared by his 
holy prophets, that in due time he would substitute in the place of the earlier and less 
perfect dispensation. To support such a superstructure, requires a foundation not only 
solidly laid in deep religious character and zeal, but also in sound Hebrew learning; and 
the author is compelled to say that he cannot discern, in the signs of the times, so far as 
they have come under his own observation, any very clear indications of its rapid pro- 
gress. Man's ever changeful theories are readily embraced ; but God's Holy Word, which 
stands immutable, and shall so stand forever, is locked up. even to multitudes of its ex- 
pounders, in dead languages which they cannot understand.' 

4i We would earnestly commend this work as one which rests the duty of the conversion 
of the Jews on sound principles, and points out the great advantages to be derived from 
the ancient Rabbies in well-conducted efforts of this nature.'' — Churchman 

" It contains a great deal of interesting information concerning a class of men, of emi- 
nence in their day, and still regarded with veneration by the Jews, of whom, moreover, 
the great body of our people know but little. It ought to be widely read/' — Courier. 

" It is beyond all doubt a highly interesting and instructive work, and something new 
in the curreat literature of the day." — 2Vne Sun 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford Sword*. 



MERCY TO BABES: 



A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIAN BAPTISM OF INFANTS 

ADDRESSED TO THOSE WHO DENY THE VA LIDITY OF THAT PRACTICE, 
UPON THE GROUNDS OF THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISM, AND THE 
ETERNAL SENSE OF HOLY WRIT, AND OF THE DOMES - 
TIC. SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS NATURE OF MAN. 

D Y T H K 

REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, S. T. P. 

PRE33YTKR. OF THE PROTESTANT KPiSGOPAL CHURCH IV T H K DTOCESE OF 

\viscoNSirc. 
One Volume. 12 mo. 6Ze. 



" Adams' ' Mere}' For Babes' is a book of rare original it}' and power. It is an argument 
of no ordinary cogency, well conceived, and, in the main, well out, for the right of infants 
to the seal of blessing - in the sacrament of baptism. The writer eschews controversy, and 
undertakes to lay down his doctrine, and prove it, on its own merits from the Bible only. 
He does it, and does it well. We know a case in which his end has been attained. An 
anxious and intelligent ' inquirer ' was distressed by some of the common specious objec- 
tions to infant baptism, which are so successful with the many who have neither ability 
nor inclination to examine thoroughly into their validity. ' Mercy for Babes,' was recom- 
mended, and the result was perfect satisfaction. The ground was cut up beneath the con- 
troversial statements that had given trouble, and they lost all their value. The literal 
truth of Scripture destroyed them. They were not opposed — not refuted — there was no 
room left for them. Truth, exhibited by no mealy-mouthed assert or, but with honest 
plainness and earnestness, took hold of the mind, convinced it, preoccupied it, and left no 
room for adverse sophistry and false assertion. 

"But one need not be in perplexity because of anti-psedo-baptfst assaults on the 
Church's love for little children, to profit by Mr. Adams' book. Not for many a day have 
we met with one that will better repay any reader for his trouble and time laid out in 
giving it a careful perusal. It is most clearly written under a sense of want. The writer 
felt that he had something to say which had not yet been said as he could say it, and that 
now was the time to give it utterance. He has done so in unstudied honest plainness, and 
has shown that he was right. La£e years have-brought out several good works on branches 
of the pssdo-baptist question : this is the first that has touched the rtoi." — Church Times. 

"We have peculiar pleasure in announcing the work whose title we have given above 
in full, and which conveys a very accurate idea of the peculiar nature of the track which 
the author has chosen to pursue. He leaves untouched many of the branches of the argu- 
ment for the baptism of infants which have already been ably and sufficiently discussed 
by preceding writers, and confines himself to v/hat he well calls ' the grand question' — 
its moral, religious, domestic, and social considerations; rightly judging that when this is 
felt as it should be, minor questions will be easily agreed upon. He is evidently in earnest; 
lie writes from the heart: aud only seeks readers who are equally in earnest, and whoseu 
and f'<d the deep and solemn importance of the subject. It is ail the more valuable as 
'a hook written for plain psople, and for common sense people;' and that the author 
'comes forward, not as a controversialist to attack others, or to enter into discussion with 
any champion of the opposite views.' 'This,' he says, 'is not his ohpet — his purpose 
is far different; he wishes to lay clearly and plainly before those who doubt or deny infant 
baptism, the giounds for his own belief that are to be found in t:ie Scripture: — to lay it 
before them as persons that have a real and \ital interest in it as professing Christians 
as persons, too, that have the Bible in their hands, are bound to search for the truth 
lucre.' " — Banner of the Cross 



'ttvoiional Works published by Stanford if Sword* 



WILBERFOROE'S PRAYERS. 

FAMILY PRAYERS, 

BY THE LATE 

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ. 

EDITFD BY HIS SOX, 

ROBERT ISAAC WILBERFORCE, M. A 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 

PRAYERS BY THE REV. JOHN SWETE, D. D. 
One volume 18?)io. cloth. 25 c. 

'* Tb«*t the habit of family dersfivui is not inconsistent with the most zealoup and uar« 
Butted a-«£harge of public duty is evince:? by the example whicn the author of these Pray* 
era affortr^d. His singular union, indeed, o* private religion and public usefulness, nit>y in 
great mea»-ure be attributed to that state of min_ of which this custom was at once a cimiso 
and a consequence. The Grecian colonists, whose more polished manners, and the sim- 
plicity of wfeose native speech, were endangered through the contaminations of barbarian 
intercourse, ^y assembling at stated seasons, to confess their degeneracy, and revive the 
thought of p^rer times, retained as well the language which was their common bond, as the 
superiority which was the birth-right of their race. Amidst the increasing turmoil of our 
days, the custom of daily worship may be looked to by Christians for a similar result. It 
has been shown, indeed, that this practice comes commended by the experience of former 
times. But if it were needed in a period of quiet and repose, how much more amidst the 
agitation by which our cities are now convulsed, and which shakes even the villages of 
our land ! In tranquil days, the disciples were comforted by the presence of Christ ; bu» 
it was amidst the waves of Gennesaret that they learned to appreciate that power which 
could hush the stormy element? into rest. It was when neither sun nor stars for many 
days appeared, and no small tempest lay upon him, that the captive apostle cojld be 
of good cheer, because there was with him the angel of that God, whose he was and whoa 
he served." 

THORNTONS'S PRAYERS. " 

FAMILY PRAYERS, 

PRAYERS ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A FAMILY COMMENTARY UPCX THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 

BY THE LATE 

HENRY THORNTON, ESQ., M. P. 

EDITED BY THE 

RIGHT REV. M ANTON EASTBURN, D. D., 

Bishop of Massachusetts. 

One handsome volume. 1 2 m o . 75c. 

•* The present volume contains t .vo works, which have been separately published li. Eng- 
land; the Family Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount having appeared th«f6, uLout 
a year after theYirst edition of the Family Prayers. The arrangement new adopted wil 
it is thought, be fou^i orfwcjjnt for domestic Worship ; as combining- within the sarm> 
volume a Mauoia si prayer, and portions of scriptural exposition for reading. 

" It may so 3m presumptuous in the Editor to say any thing by way of introduction to 
prod actions bearing on their title-page the name of Thornton : — a name, familiar not to 
England only, but to the world ; and "indissolubly associated with our thoughts of whatever 
us enlarged in Christian beneficence, sound in religious views, and beautiful in consistency 
of daily practice. He will take the liberty, however, of simply saying, that in regard U 
the Family Prayers, that, without at all detracting from the merit of other works of the 
same description, they appear to him to preserve, in a remarkable degree, the difficult and 
happy medium between verboseness on she one hand, and a cold conciseness on the other. 
St is believed that none can use them, without feeling that they impart a spirit of grati- 
tude and self-humiliation. They are what prayers should be,— fervent, and yet perfectly 
aimple. 

" The Commentary upon the Sermon on the Mount, is remarkable throughout for 
the profound insight into human nature which it manifests : for its clear exhibition of the 
fundamental truths of the srospel : and for the faithfulness, honesty, and at the same titte, 
the trae refinement and dignity. vt th<? b~>$ua$e in which its instructions are conveyed.'" 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford &>• Swords. 



SPENCER'S ENGLISH REFORMATION. 
HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND 



BY THE 



REV. J. A. SPENCER, A. M. 

"author of the christian instructed in thk v/ays of the gospel and THB 

CHURCH." 

One Voliune. lG;?io. 50c. 



'The author 'claims to have carefully sought exactness and precision in regard to facta 
And circumstances; to have consulted every writer within his reach, in order to verify the 
•statement made in the text; to have endeavored to be strictly just and fair towards all 
parties and persons; and to have set forth t lie public acts of the Church aud State as 
faithfully as he was able, and as fully as the limits of the volume would admit.' We 
regard it as of especial importance at this linn, that the causes which led to the reforma 
tion of the Church in England, should be well understood. There are many persons to 
whom the larger histories of it are not accessible, and who would not have time to study 
them if they were. To such, and to the young learner, this little book of 200 pages will 
impart much useful information upon that interesting era in the history of the Church." 
— Banner of the Cross. 

" A judicious aud faithful treatise on the Reformation in England, admirably adapted 
for families and for Sunday School libraries. Although altogether unpretending, it is 
precisely one of the books most fitted to do good, in the times upon which we have fallen. 
It tells the truth, clearly, fairly, aud honestly. * * * When such desperate and un- 
ceasing efforts are mads all around us to villi fy the Reformation, it is the duty of every 
Churchman not only to inform himself on the subject, but to see that the truth is brought 
to bear upon the minds of his children, who may soon be called to a fiercer and more 
unrnest struggle to maintain if thau a»vy to which he himself is summoned. — Protestant 
Churchman. 

" An acceptable contribution to ecclesiastical literature. The author throws into con- 
trast the leading principles of Protestantism with the past and existing elements of 
Romanism, aud exhibits their opposite tendencies with much force. The historical por 
tion of the work is, from the size of the volume, necessarily much condensed. The promi 
nence given to the great principles involved, however, atones for this, while as a portable 
and not expensive volume, it will reach those to whom larger works of the kind are 
inaccessible." — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, 

"This is a most opportune publication. The times demand a return to the principles 
of the great Reform, and the people are laudably anxious to know what those princi- 
ples are. So much discussion is abroad, so many various assertions are made, and so 
much confidence is manifested by persons of very different sentiments in the truth ot 
their opinions, that it is essential to go to the fountain head and ascertain by the facts of 
history just where and what the tr uth really is. It is this object which the author of this 
volume lias had in view : it has been his aim to present fasts, and not mere opinions, to 
give evidence, and uot barely his view of tho Reformation and its principles. It is this 
feature which we particularly admire in this volume, and which we commend especially 
lo our readers ; for though Mr. Spencer's own views are decided, he does not obtrude 
them upon those who peruse his history; he gives them a succinct, clear, well-digested 
statement of the acts of the Church and State, and leaves the reader to draw his own 
conclusion. We are not aware that in a single instance Mr. S. oversteps the true bounds 
by which the historiaa ought to be restrained. 

"The literary and mechanical execution of this volume are of the first order. Mr. S. 
writes easily, fluently and vigorously, and occasionally his subject warms into eloquence. 
The publishers deserve great credit for the style in which they have issued the book, not 
more than for the very low price at which they offer it for sale, in order, we are confident, 
to give it that wide circulati -u which the momentous nature 3f the subject lemands." — 
N. Y Gazette if Times. 



Valuable Works, jiubhshcd by Stavfrrd If Sw-»rds. 



MEMOIRS OF MRS. ELIZABETH FRY, 

INCLUDING 

A HISTORY OF HER LABORS 



IN PROMOTING 

THE REFORMATION OF FEMALE PRISONERS, 

AND THE 



IMPROVEMENT OF BRITISH SEAMEN, 

BY THE 



REV. THOMAS TIMPSON, 

Honorary Secretary to the British and Foreign Sailor** Society. 
One volume. 12?no. 73c. 



44 An interesting- sketch of the life, labors, and death of one who was numbered with the 
salt of the earth. In works of love, she was most abundant; She toiled with indefatiga- 
ble zeal, for the benefit of her sex, exploring- the darkness of dungeons, and diffusing 
through them the light and iufiueuce of her own lovely and tender spirit." — Episcopal 
Recorder. 

41 Mrs. Fry was one of those unselfish beings, whose sole object in life seems to be to do 
good, to the full extent cf the means and opportunities with which God has blessed them. 
Her arduous labors in effecting reform in prisons, were no less earnest and successful than 
her exertions in behalf of the seamen of Great Britan, a class whose moral and spiritual 
interests, had been, until her day, shamefully neglected. This volume exhibits the incep- 
tion, progress and results of her benevolent enterprises, and is filled with matter of rare 
interest to the Christian and philanthropist. It deserves a wide circulation." — Protestant 
Churchman. 

" She lived a lifc of active benevolence, however, which may be usefully contemplated 
and copied by these of a sounder faith. By her numberless journies to visit the abodes of 
the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, and by her ceaseless efforts to ameliorate their con- 
dition, she earned the well-deserve I name of 4 the female Howard.' Her useful career is 
well portrayed in this volume." — Calendar. 

44 The extraordinary character of Mrs. Fry, and her unparalleled labors exerted to pro- 
mote the reformation of female prisoners, and the improvement of British seamen, have 
earned for her a reputation throughout Great Britan aud Europe, second only to that of 
the philanthropist Howard. Mr. Timpson's Memoir is a brief but comprehensive tribute 
to her virtues and worth, by one who was associated with her in some department of phi 
lanthropic service." — Gazette Times. 

44 Some time ago we announced the intention of the New-York publishers to reproduce 
this work fiom the English edition. Their purpose is now fulfilled, and no doubt the phi- 
lanthropic reader will greatly prize this memorial of a lady who, beyond all her female 
contemporaries, was in labors of benevolence abundant. The American edition, with the 
exception that it has no portrait, is nearly or quite equal to the English and at a less price. 
The admirable system with which Mrs. Fry prosecuted her labors is beyond all praise 
and if the work wrought no other purpose than furnishing such an example of order in the 
prosecution of multifarious duty, it would amply repay the purchase. But its usefulness 
is by no means confined to thai single fe& ure." — If. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 




Valuable Worlts, published by Stanford Sf Swords. 



JACKSON'S R 



EMAINS. 



THE LIFE AND 



REMAINS 



OF THE 



KEY. WILLIAM 



JACKSON, 



LATE RECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE. 



WIT! I A 



BRIEF SKETCH! OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER 



n Y T H K 



REV. WM. M. JACKSON. 



One handsome volume. Svo. $1,75. 



M The life of a laborious and devoted clergyman, presents few incidents to win the 
attention of those who read for pastime, or mere mental excitement. But to all who love 
to contemplate pure character, profound and earnest piety, and thorough devotion to the 
service of Christ, a record like the one before us, is rich in attractions. 

" Many of our readers will recognize every line of the faithful portraiture here pre- 
sented. The Rev. Mr. Jackson was for many years Rector of St. Stephen's Church, in 
»his city, and in that position his faithful, judicious, zealous, and self-denying exertions 
ivere eminently blessed. Memorials of his earnest ministry, his humble, saintly life, and 
kis abundant labors for Christ and the Church are written in many hearts in our midst, a? 
well as in that distaut field were his last years were spent. He has left behind lum a re- 
futation which every parochial clergyman may well covet, as his best legacy to the Church. 

" To say that the volume before us is full of interest for the Christian reader, would be 
*o speak far too coldly of its merits. It is replete with instruction of that high character 
which arrests the intellect while it subdues the heart. It is the more valuable, inasmuch 
«s it consists chiefly of the sermons and other instructions of the Christian pastor, whose 
memorial to the Church it is, stamped with fresh and living interest, so that as we read, it 
b sometimes hard to realize, that the lips that uttered them are now closed in death, and 
that the soul from which they sprang Iias srone to its reward. ' Bein* dead he yet speak- 
cth ;' and happy will it be for us all, if amidst the excitements and distractions of these 
^imes, the excellent counsels of our departed brother shall impress us with a more solemn, 
sense of the exalted duties and awful responsibilities of the ministry of reconciliation in the 
Church of the living God." — Protestant Churchman. 

"This is the title of a large, handsomely printed volume, from the press of Stanford and 
Swords, containing a brief biographical memoir of the late Rector of St. Paul's Church, 
Louisville, Ky., together with extraets from his letters, the sermon preached on occasion of 
his funeral, by Bishop Smith, minutes of conversation, sermons, and various fragments, the 
coliection and publication of which was earnestly desired by a large number of h s friends 
and parishioners. 

' The character which is described in this volume is eminently that of a Christian minis 
ter, and though the seeker after bold adventure, or vivid incident, may not find within its 
pages the material for gratifying" his peculiar tastes, the record of a good man's life cannot 
be read without interest or profit, even though there be little in it of the startling or the 
adventurous. We earnestly commend this volume therefore to the attention of our read- 
ers.'' — Evening Gazette. 

"This is the title of a very handsome octave volume, which has been recently published 
in New-York. It is well printed on fine paper, and is embellished with a portrait which 
will strike all who remember how the lamented original looked, as an excellent likeness 
The volume consists of a memoir of Mr. Jackson, a selection from his sermons and letters, 
and extracts from his writings. It is a worthy tribute to the memory of a pood man In 
this co.numnity no recommendation is necessary to induce persons to purchase such a vol 
urae. Of course his numerous friends and admirers ^ ill hasten to supply themselves with 
copies of ttu work " — Louisville Journal. 



Valuable Works, pullisJted by Stanford If Sword*. 



MARGARET; OR, THE PEARL. 




\ B Y T H E 

REV. CHARLES B. TAFLER, 

ATJTHOa np " LADY MARY," " RECORDS OF A GOOD MAN'S LIFE," &C. 

In one handsome duodecimo volume, 75c. 



A good hook may be compared to a dear and faithful friend, always welcome, and 
ft 9« T ing its influence to cheer and freshen the pathway of life. To this class the writing* 
)f the pious and gifted author of the present volume justly belong. The favorable recep 
lion, by a discerning public, of two of the works of the Rev. Mr. Tayler, recently issuer' 
^rom their press, has encouraged the publishers to add a third ; confidently believing the.; 
the valuable instructions and examples abounding in it, apart from the great interest of 
the narrative itself, will render * Margaret * no unfit companion to 4 The Records of a 
(iood Man's Life,' and 1 Lady Mary." All three are worthy a place in every family aoo 
parish library." — Publishers' Preface, 

" Those who have read Lady Mary,' and 1 The Records of a Good Man's Life," will 
be anxious to peru»*e this olurne. It is one of those gems of religious fiction, which teach 
truth in a manner equa y calculated to inform the mind and impress the heart, without 
exciting appeals to the magination. or unwholesome stimulants to the religious seusibili 
ties." — Protestant Churchman. 

" We are glad to see this work republished here. It is a book for the family, convtjr 
mg instruction and awakening reflection, while it arrests the attention, and retains it by 
the truthfulness of its domestic scenes." — Evening- Gazette. 

It is unnecessary to say, except to those who are unacquainted with this gifted au- 
thor's other writings, that the volume is both highly instructive and attractive." — Southern 
Churchman. 

** A pleasing narrative of pride and wealth subdued to suffering and humiliation, ant- 
ral. -je opinions overcome by faith in Christ. Nothing could be more proper and Christian 
like than tie tone and temper of this little volume, which will be read by the religious 
with pleasure and profit. It is very prettily sent forth by the American publishers." — 
S9uihern Patriot. 

"The typography nnd general appearance of the volume is highly ere Viable to th« 
Vubhshcra." — Albany Evening Journal. 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford «$f Swords, 



PAY THY VOWS. 
A Pastoral Address Subsequent to Confirmation. 

BY THE LATE 

G T BEDELL, D.D. 

HECTOR OF ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 

Edited, will additions, by his son, G. Thvrston Bedell, Rector of i\% 

Church of the Ascension, N. Y. 

A beautiful miniature edition. 32mo. 31c. 

u Dr. Bedell's name is too well known to require any commendation at our hands ; even 
those who disagreed with him in some theological views, never doubted his deep and 
hearty striving to win so;:ls to Christ, nor ever were unimpressed with the fact of his being 
in earnest in what he said and did. The value of the address is much enhanced by the 
additions made by the present Rector of the Church of the Ascension." — Young Church- 
man's Miscellany. 

"It earnestly advocates the sound doctrine, that confirmation is a ratification of the 
baptismal vows made by the sponsors, and is, therefore, necessarily a formal adoption of 
the Christian profession. The many admirers of Dr. Bedell, when living, will find in this 
book all that pastoral simplicity and warm earnestness of manner for which he .-o 
celebrated." — Evening Gazette. 

THE RENUNCIATION. 

AN ESSAY ON WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS. 

BY THE LATE 

REV. G. T. BEDELL, D.D. 

RECTOR OF ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 

With an Introductory Notice by his Son. 

** This republication is calculated to do great good. The faithful expositions of Christian 
luty which it contains, are recommended by the fervent, tender, and persuasive eloquence 
tn which they are conveyed. The introductory notice by the son of the author, contain* 
some valuable and impressive views on tli3 subjects of ths Essay, with quotations from 
Bcrae of the Bishops of the Church of England and our own Church. We trust tho volume 
will be extensively circulated and read." — Protestant Churchman. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER'S COMPANION. 

CONTAINING 

EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS, 

ARRANGED UNDES APPROPRIATE HEADS, AFFORDING USEFUL HINTS TO THOSE VV1IO 

ARE KM PLOYED IN THE 

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE YOUNG. 
One volume. 2\mo. 3Sc. 

* It is the compilation of an experienced Sunday School teacher ; the extracts being 
taken from the best writers on the subject of Sunday School instruction, and arranged un- 
der appropriat 5 heads with much judgment. Although particularly intended for the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, it may be used with advantage by oti %x denominations.' — 
Siymiktm Churchman. 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford $ Swords. 



ENGLISH CHURCHWOMEN 

OF THE 

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

One Volume. 18mo. 50c. 

•« This is a small and very neat edition of a most delightful and useful book. It contains 
the biography of such excellent characters as Viscountess Falkland, the Countess of Car 
berry, Lady Capel, and Mary Evelyn. We cannot think of a better volume to put int* 
the Parish Library and the Family Circle. Wherever it goes, it must exert a most be» 
nign influence." — Calendar. 

" A charming compendium of female biography, of which it must have occurred to th* 
reader there is a lack in our literature. Of course, as the title implies, the memorials an 
confined to members of the Established Church of England, but that makes them no lo*. 
interesting and certainly no less profitable to the religious reader, since the principles o- 
virtue and religion are subjects for delightful contemplation, and profitable withal, what" 
ever their incidental relation or position. We are glad to possess and commend toother* 
this excellent publication." — JY. Y. Commercial. * 

"No intelligent Christian can read these biographical notices, without meeting with trai/ ... 
of character well worthy of admiration and imitation."— Southern Churchman. 



LATH R OP'S APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 



CHRIST'S WARNING TO THE CHURCHES : 

WITH AX APPENDIX ON THE 

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 

BY THE 

REV. JOSEPH LATHROP, D. D. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY THE REV. J. M. WAIN WRIGHT, D. D. 

Handsome l6mo. 50c. 

"A Treatise on the necessity of external ordination, and of a succession from the Apos- 
tles to constitute valid Orders, from a Congregational minister, is somewhat of an anomaly 
Yet this is such a one. The author was settled in Weft Springfield, Mass., and delivered 
and published these sermons on the occasion of being visited and annoyed by an itinerant 
preacher who " made great pretensions to piety," and " taught that every saint has a right 
to preach." The work in its present republished form, cannot fail to be useful in teaching 
men from whence authority to preach the Gospel is to be derived. — Calendar 

"Here we have a defenee of the apostolic succession, written by an eminent Congrega- 
tionalist, the Rev. Joseph Lathrop, and edited by a high Churchman, the Rev. Dr. Wain- 
wright. It is a good book, although something of a curiosity in its way. It is gotten i»p 
in Stanford and Swords's usual neat and tasteful style."-— Recorder. 



Valuable Works, published by Stanford Swordi. 



PERRANZA8ULOE; 




Ancient Cross of St. Pieran in the Sand 



One volume. 12 mo. 75c. 

rt A further examination of this work has confirmed our opinion, and made us desire te 
reiterate our testimony, that it is truly a Protestant History, written in a most rttractive 
ityle. When we first saw it, we did not suppose ii was possible for any one to invest so 
threadbare a subject with any degree of novel interest. But we were mistaken, and we 
are glad to be able to express the opinion, that the publishers have done well to select it. 
The title is singular but most appropriate, and the incidents connected with it are most 
ingeniously made the basis of the whole history. — Episcopal Recorder. 

" We trust all our readers wi 1 forthwith luy this hook and read it. It will furnish an 
effectual antidote to all the heretical t~asV p lined upon the unwary, the evident intention 
of which is to palliate Roman corruption on the specious ground of charity." — Protest' 
ant Churchman. 

" Clear in its style and sound in its influence, it is a complete Protestant history, writ- 
ten by one who has invested the almost threadbare sbuject with a novel interest, and it is 
well calculated as an antidote to the many heretical volumes which have from time to 
time fascinated the unwary and led the mind captive to corrupt and unscriptural doc 
trines. — Boston Evening Transcript. 

" It is an interesting book to all interested in antiquities, Church history and polity * 
- N. Y. Gazette. 

*' A book which combines the fascination of romance with the instruction of reoJ 
history." — Mobile Daily Advertiser. 



